Payment of insurance premiums

The payment of social security premiums and contributions to the state employment policy is regulated by Act No 589/1992 Coll., on social security insurance premiums and contributions to the state employment policy, as amended. More about insurance premium rates.

A self-employed person pays:

pension insurance premiums; or
advances payments on insurance premiums and supplementary payments of these insurance premiums; and
sickness insurance premiums, if he or she voluntarily participates in sickness insurance.

A self-employed person pays insurance premiums to the account of the competent social security administration. Information about individual accounts DSSA are here. A self-employed person will also receive the above and other information in an informative letter from the competent DSSA on the basis of a notification of commencement of self-employment on the prescribed form. The payment of the insurance premium must also be marked with a variable symbol.

Self-employed person’s variable symbol:

For the payment of pension insurance premiums, the self-employed person shall indicate an 8-digit variable symbol, which the DSSA assigns to self-employed persons upon notification of the commencement of self-employment. This is a unique identifier of a self-employed persons in the records of the DSSA. Only with the indication of this variable symbol is it possible to post the payment to the relevant account of the payer of the insurance premium.

The variable symbol for the payment of sickness insurance premiums for self-employed persons is the birth number. If the self-employed person does not have a birth number, the variable symbol is the insurance registration number assigned by the DSSA.

The day of payment of the insurance premium is considered to be the day when the insurance premium is credited to the account of the competent DSSA.

Pension insurance premiums

Pension insurance premiums must be paid by any self-employed person who, in the previous year:

pursued major activity as a self-employed person;
pursued subsidiary activity as a self-employed person and became a member of the pension scheme;
pursued subsidiary activity as a self-employed person and applied to become a member of the pension scheme.

The advance payment is 29.2% of the monthly assessment basis. The minimum amount of the advance payment is determined annually from the assessment basis, which is 50% of the average tax basis achieved in the previous calendar year (in accordance with the Income Tax Act). The minimum assessment basis is regulated annually by a regulation of the Government of the Czech Republic and it differs for major and subsidiary activity as a self-employed person (More in Czech).

Payment of advances on pension insurance premiums

The advance payment can be paid from the 1st to the last day of the calendar month for which the advance payment is paid. This means that the advance payment for January is due from 1 January to 31 January, etc. The advance payment is 29.2% of the monthly assessment basis. The advance payment for the calendar month in which the activity as a self-employed person was started may be paid until the end of the following month.

Supplementary payments of pension insurance premiums

The supplementary payment is the difference between the total pension insurance premium for a given year and the advances paid for the given calendar year. The supplement is calculated by the self-employed person in the Statement on Income and Expenses for the calendar year or it is determined by the locally competent DSSA in the calculation of the insurance premium for the given calendar year.

Pension insurance premiums and contributions to the state employment policy, as well as the supplementary payments for these premiums for a given calendar year, are payable no later than eight days after the day on which the Statement on Income and Expenses of a self-employed person was or should have been submitted. In the event of a failure to comply with the said deadline, a statutory late payment interest arises in the amount of 0.05% of the outstanding premium amount for each day of delay.

Minimum amount of the advance payment for pension insurance premiums in 2022

Type of independent activity / Minimum monthly advance payments

Major / CZK 2,841

Subsidiary / CZK 1,137

The minimum amount of the advance payment in 2022 is determined from the assessment basis, which is 50% of the average tax basis achieved in the previous calendar year. The sum of the prescriptions of advance payments for insurance premiums in a calendar year may not exceed the maximum assessment basis set for that year. The maximum (annual) assessment basis for self-employed persons for pension insurance premiums and contributions to the state employment policy is an amount of 48 times the average wage; for 2022, it is CZK 1,867,728.

Minimum amount of the advance payment for pension insurance premiums in 2023

Type of independent activity / Minimum monthly advance payments

Major / CZK 2,944

Subsidiary / CZK 1,178

A self-employed person who has reached the maximum assessment basis from employment and demonstrates this fact by a confirmation from the employer at the competent DSSA is exempt from paying advance payments for insurance premiums.

Sickness insurance premiums

Sickness insurance premiums for self-employed persons are determined as a percentage of the monthly assessment basis. The insurance premium rate sickness insurance of self-employed persons is 2.1%.

The maturity of the sickness insurance premium for a calendar month is from the 1st to the last day of the calendar month for which the premium is paid. Insurance premiums that have not been paid at the due date can be repaid by the end of the calendar month following the month for which the premium is paid.

In 2022 and 2023, the minimum assessment basis for sickness insurance premiums is CZK 7,000, the minimum payment is set at CZK 147 per month. The assessment basis for sickness insurance premiums for self-employed persons is a monthly basis, which the self-employed person determines himself or herself by his or her payment within the range of the minimum and maximum monthly basis. The minimum monthly basis is equal to twice the decisive amount, which is determined in accordance with the legislation on sickness insurance for participation in the sickness insurance system for employees.

Self-employed persons applying a flat-rate scheme

Effective from 1 January 2021, Act No. 586/1992 Coll., on income tax, as amended, has been amended to allow the self-employed persons to apply the flat-rate scheme, subject to the conditions laid down in the amended Act, thus becoming payers applying a flat-rate scheme.

CSSA is not authorised to provide any information concerning the entry and conditions for participation in the flat-rate scheme, therefore we recommend to follow the website of the tax administration - the Financial Administration authorities.

Notifications of the application of the flat-rate scheme shall be made by self-employed persons with the Financial Administration authorities.

A self-employed person commencing self-employment activity may also give a notification to CSSA of the commencement of self-employment activity together with the notification of the application of the flat-rate scheme and register for the sickness insurance at the same time. The provision of the data to CSSA by the tax administrator is considered a fulfilment of the notification obligation and submission of an application for sickness insurance.

The notification of the end of the self-employment activity shall be made directly to CSSA and not to the financial administration authority.

Flat-rate tax and flat-rate premiums shall be paid to the Financial Administration authorities in the form of monthly flat-rate advances, which will include: an advance on health insurance, an advance on pension insurance and an advance on personal income tax. amount of each of the advances is subject to annual change.

The self-employed person shall not file the statement of income and expenses for the calendar year for which their personal income tax is equal to the flat-rate tax. If any of the flat-rate scheme conditions is violated, even during the period in which the self-employed person participates in the flat-rate mode, the obligation to file the statement will arise.

If self-employed person is subject to the social security legislation of another state (application of other legislation has been determined), the self-employed person shall be treated as a flat-rate taxpayer for the purposes of the payment of advances on premiums until the end of the calendar month in which they were subject to the Czech social security legislation most recently. However, such person shall be required to file the statement for such calendar year.

For the self-employed person applying the flat-rate scheme, the advance on pension insurance shall be determined from the lowest monthly assessment base increased by 15%. In 2022, this advance shall be CZK 3, 267 per tax payer. In the calendar year, the self-employed persons will participate in pension insurance for the period during which they were a flat-rate mode payers and have settled all flat-rate advance payments for the insurance premiums at the applicable rate.

A self-employed persons may apply for voluntary sickness insurance, either while giving their notification to tax authorities of their application of the flat-rate scheme or at any time during the period for which they apply the flat-rate scheme. If the self-employed person has already participated in sickness insurance before entering the flat-rate scheme, their participation remain unchanged. Sickness insurance payments are not part of the flat-rate advances paid monthly by the self-employed person applying the flat-rate scheme to the tax administration, but should be paid independently by the due date to the account of the relevant DSSA with the right identification (variable symbol). A self-employed person applying the flat-rate scheme will determine the amount of the monthly sickness insurance premiums himself/herself, and the sum will range from the minimum amount of CZK 147 up to the maximum amount of the assessment base for the year in question. In 2021, the maximum monthly payment shall be CZK 215, and the self-employed persons shall also make the payment for months in which they received sickness insurance benefits.

From 1 January 2011, self-employed person may become payer applying a flat-rate scheme. The aim is to reduce an administrative burden related to payment obligation of the self-employed persons towards the state in the area of taxes, pensions and health insurance.

Self-employed persons applying a flat-rate scheme

Notifications of the application of the flat-rate scheme shall be made by self-employed persons with the Financial Administration authorities.

A self-employed person commencing self-employment activity may also give a notification to CSSA of the commencement of self-employment activity together with the notification of the application of the flat-rate scheme and register for the sickness insurance at the same time. The provision of the data to CSSA by the tax administrator is considered a fulfilment of the notification obligation and submission of an application for sickness insurance.

The notification of the end of the self-employment activity shall be made directly to CSSA and not to the financial administration authority.

flat-rate tax and flat-rate premiums shall be paid to the Financial Administration authorities in the form of monthly flat-rate advances, which will include: an advance on health insurance, an advance on pension insurance and an advance on personal income tax. amount of each of the advances is subject to annual change.

For the self-employed person applying the flat-rate scheme, the advance on pension insurance shall be determined from the lowest monthly assessment base increased by 15%. In 2022, this advance is CZK 3, 267 per tax payer. In the calendar year, the self-employed persons will participate in pension insurance for the period during which they were a flat-rate mode payers and have settled all flat-rate advance payments for the insurance premiums at the applicable rate.

A self-employed persons may apply for voluntary sickness insurance, either while giving their notification to tax authorities of their application of the flat-rate scheme or at any time during the period for which they apply the flat-rate scheme. If the self-employed person has already participated in sickness insurance before entering the flat-rate scheme, their participation remain unchanged. Sickness insurance payments are not part of the flat-rate advances paid monthly by the self-employed person applying the flat-rate scheme to the tax administration, but should be paid independently by the due date to the account of the relevant DSSA with the right identification (variable symbol). A self-employed person applying the flat-rate scheme will determine the amount of the monthly sickness insurance premiums himself/herself, and the sum will range from the minimum amount of CZK 147 up to the maximum amount of the assessment base for the year in question. In 2022, the maximum monthly payment is CZK 235, and the self-employed persons shall also make the payment for months in which they received sickness insurance benefits.

Last update: 22. 1. 2024

ČESKÁ SPRÁVA SOCIÁLNÍHO ZABEZPEČENÍ

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