The following guide to the institutions is targeted on workers from other EU countries, European Economic Area (EEA), and Switzerland, who would like to work in the Czech Republic in an employment relation (employment contract and other employment agreement). This guide should facilitate the orientation in the institutions of public administration and self-government, which the workers may encounter during their stay in the Czech Republic.
Brief Overview:
Individual departments process temporary/permanent residence for the citizens of EU/EEA and Switzerland, and their family relatives. A citizen of EU/EEA and Switzerland is entitled, not obliged, to apply for a residence permit and this permit is issued for the duration of five years.
Necessary documents: passport, document certifying the purpose of the stay (e.g. employment contract), 2 photographs. Issue of the permit or the extension of time of validity is free of administrative charges. All documents in other than the Czech language must be officially translated into Czech.
Time of the process the application does not exceed 60 days. Changes must be reported within 3 working days.
Foreign police also automatically processes the birth registration number for the applicants for residence permit, which is afterwards entered in the relevant document in a form of an official record.
• information about the stay of EU citizens and their family relatives in the Czech Republic
• information about the stay of the citizens from non EU countries
• information about birth registration numbers
www.mvcr.cz/rady/formulare/cizinci/zadosti.pdf
• application for temporary permit in the Czech Republic
Labour Office
An employer is obliged to inform the relevant labour office in writing, according to the place of work, about the fact that he or she employs a citizen from EU/EEA or Switzerland their family relative, or a foreigner who does not need a work permit in the Czech Republic, by the date of the commencement of employment at the latest.
An employer is also obliged to inform the authorized labour office about the termination of employment within 10 calendar days at the latest from the termination of employment or the posting.
http://portal.mpsv.cz/sz/zahr_zam
• employment of EU citizens
http://portal.mpsv.cz/sz/zahr_zam/tiskopisy
• forms for download
Foreigners and citizens of EU/EEA and Switzerland have also the right to register at a Czech labour office as job seekers.
The same rules as for the citizens of the Czech Republic apply to them as well. If they have their last employment in the Czech Republic and fulfil other conditions given by law, they are also entitled to obtain unemployment benefit.
http://portal.mpsv.cz/sz/obcane/pravpov_uch
• basic rights and duties for job seekers and applicants
Labour offices provide, as a new service, medical assessment service.
Labour offices also issue forms E301 for the citizens of the EU/EEA countries, which are used as an evidence of the number of hours of work and the duration of insurance in the Czech Republic that will be taken into account while applying for the unemployment benefit in other country.
Department of State Social Support, as a part of Labour offices, provides the following benefits according to the Regulation no.1408/71:
• family benefits: child allowance and parental allowance and some foster allowances
• social allowance
• bereavement benefit
There exist forms E 400 for family benefits. These benefits in the Czech Republic could be claimed by employees or self-employed persons or job seekers registered at a labour office with an unemployment benefit entitlement.
• portal of State Social Support
Health Insurance Fund
People who stay in the Czech Republic for business or employment and whose company is based in the Czech Republic, are liable to the Czech health insurance system.
The main exceptions are for example posted workers.
The employee and the employer pay together health insurance deductions of the amount 13.5% from the gross salary, out of which the employee contributes with 4.5% and the employer 9%.
Nowadays, there are 9 health insurance companies in the Czech Republic:
• Vgeobecna zdravotni pojiS’fovna
• Vojenska zdravotni poAfovna
• Odborova zdravotni pojigfovna zarnestnand, bank, pojiffoven a stavebnictvi
• Zamestnanecka pojigfovna Skoda www.zpskoda.cz
• Zdravotni pojiSlovna Ministerstva vnitra www.zpmvrc.cz
• Revirni braffska pokladna v °stray& zarnestnanecka zdravotni pojRfovna
• Zdravotni pojigtovna Metal-Aliance www.zpma.cz
• Ceska nasodni zdravotni pojigfovna www.cnzp.cz
• Hutnicka zamestnanecka pojigfovna www.hzp.cz
Insured people are entitled to change the health insurance company once a year.
An employee shall inform his/her employer about his/her health insurance company and the employer, then, register the employee. The worker himself/herself fills in the forms required by the relevant health insurance company.
In case of stated dependant family relatives, documents proving this fact are required.
• Centre of Interstate Remittances
• contact place for the issues of health insurance
• description of the health system in the Czech Republic
• list of public hospitals
Social Security
The insurance deductions are paid from the whole taxable income from all insured employments to the system of only one member state.
Social Security Administration of the Czech Republic (SSA CR – (SSZ) handles issues of pension insurance, health insurance (so-called pecuniary benefits). It also considers the liability to Czech legal regulations.
CSSZ collects the insurance deductions for sickness benefits, pension insurance, and benefit for the state employment policy.
Insurance premium rates:
Employees – 8%
(1.1% health insurance, 6.5% pension insurance, 0.4% state employment policy).
Self-employed persons – 29.6%
(28% pension insurance, 1.6.% state employment policy) and facultative participation in health insurance 4.4%).
Currently, the retirement age for men is 60, and for women 53-57 depending on the number of children. However, this age grows gradually up to 63 in 2012.
In order to be entitled to draw the old-age pension it is necessary to pay insurance for at least 25 years. An EU/EEA citizen working in the Czech Republic has the right to access the benefits of pension insurance only after paying insurance longer than for 1 year.
Benefits provided from the sickness insurance are:
• sick benefit
• benefit for taking care of a family relative
• supplementary benefit in sickness and maternity
• financial support in maternity
• portal of the Social Security Administration of the Czech Republic, English, German, and French versions
Departments of Education, Youth and Sports
Academic recognition:
- the result is the decision whether the education abroad is equal to the education provided in the Czech Republic
Regional Authority issues:
• certificate of the recognition of equivalence of foreign school report from primary school, secondary school, post-secondary education
• decision about the recognition of the validity of foreign school report (validation)
in the Czech Republic from primary school, secondary school, post-secondary education
The recognition of foreign university education and qualification is handled by the public university that provides accredited study programme similar in content, in some cases by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports itself.
www.csys.cz
• Centre for university education
• centre for equivalence of documents of education ENIC/NARIC
• database of universities and their study programmes
• portal of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
• academic recognition and recognition of professional qualifications
Special Qualification of Regulated Professions
Professional recognition:
Regulated profession or activity is a profession or activity where its performance in the Czech Republic is set by requirements formulated in the legal regulations, when in case of their non-fulfilment a person cannot perform this profession or activity (qualification requirements, moral straightness, health ability, etc.).
www.msmt.cz/uok/ru_list.php
• list of regulated professions at MSMT portal
• Czech and English versions
If the profession or activity, which a state citizen of a member state of EU/EEA, or Switzerland intends to perform in the Czech Republic, is regulated, he or she has to ask forthe recognition of his or her professional qualification at the appropriate acknowledging authority in the Czech Republic.
Professional recognition procedure:
• fill in the application
• attach required documents
+ identity card
+ professional qualification certificate (translated into Czech)
+ certificate of other capability
+ proof of management charge payment
• submit to the appropriate acknowledging authority
• processing time lasts 90-120 days
www.msrnt.ajvzdelavani/uznavani-kvalifikaci
• information for applicants for professional recognition in the Czech Republic at MSMT portal
Driver and Motor Vehicles Department
Citizens of EU member states, who own a driving licence issued by an EU member state, are not obliged to change their driving licence for a Czech one; this is regardless of the purpose of their stay in the Czech Republic and its length.
If a driver asks for a change of his or her driving licence for a Czech one, he or she will need:
• valid identity card, which proves also
the so-called usual place of residence (means the EU citizen identity card, which is issued by immigration office)
• his or her driving licence issued in other member state
• 1 x photograph
• completed for driving licence application
• certification of driving licence groups recognition issued in other member state
Tax Office
Tax office administers following taxes:
• income taxes
• value added tax
• excise taxes
• real estate tax
• road tax
• inheritance, gift, and property transfer taxes
The fiscal year in the Czech Republic corresponds to the calendar year. Income taxes are paid monthly by deposits. Employees may in the following year (until the 15th of February) ask for the tax account for the whole year, possible overpayment is returned back to them.
For reasons of the decision in which state the worldwide incomes should be taxed, it is important to determine tax residency.
Czech tax residents: are liable to taxation in the Czech Republic related to their incomes from the whole world, i.e. both to the sources in the Czech Republic and to the sources of income from abroad. He or she is a taxpayer who has a place of residence in the Czech Republic or usually stays here (more than 183 days per calendar year).
Czech tax non-residents: have the tax liability in the Czech Republic only from the Czech-source incomes. He or she is a taxpayer who does not have a usual place of residence in the Czech Republic or who does not stay here longer than 183 days per calendar year or a person for whom this status is given by the signed international treaty about prevention of double income and property taxation.
The Czech Republic has signed with all the EU member states the so-called double taxation prevention treaties, according to which the question of residency (fiscal domicile) is preferentially considered, where the crucial criterion is usually the so-called “taxpayer’s centre of vital interests”, actually regardless of nationality.
The determination of tax residency of a certain taxpayer does not need to be always easy. Therefore, in case of doubt on the side of the income payer, it is advisable to ask the taxpayer to submit a certificate from the locally appropriate tax administrator (tax office).
The taxation of income thereof are proceeded in the same way for both residents and non-residents according to relevant provisions of the Act on Income Tax. Even a non-resident has the right to sign the “Taxpayer Affidavit” form by an income payer in the Czech Republic (typically the employer) and his or her salary will be taxed as any other taxpayer, regardless of his or her tax residency. A difference is only in the possibility of claiming general tax free allowance of a tax base and tax privilege, where non-residents do not have the possibility to claim all deductions or the tax privilege.
Incomes from employment received in the Czech Republic, are always considered as income from the Czech-source, regardless their taxpayer.
• portal of Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic
• tax portal of the Czech tax service A tax return can be filled in on-line, as well.