Czechia: Today is the last day to file your property tax return

Today is the last day for filing real estate tax returns. The obligation applies to people who acquired real estate last year or who have made a significant change to the property they own, such as an extension or a change in land area. This year, the obligation to file a return applies to around 100,000 more people due to a change in the law.

According to the Tax Administration, about half a million people file tax returns each year, but this year the number of people will be extremely wide. "This is mainly due to the introduction of the rule of taxing certain real estate according to the registration in the cadastre, not according to the actual use," said Simona Hornochová, director general of the Financial Administration.

The obligation to file a tax return will now apply to some owners of garages who have them registered in the cadastre but have not used them for this purpose. In some cases, it will affect rooms in residential houses rented to tourists or paved areas for parking agricultural machinery. A full list of the changes was published by the Revenue at the end of last year.

Property tax returns do not need to be filed if local coefficients in municipalities have changed. Their change is automatically taken into account by the Tax Administration when calculating the tax amount.

The Tax Administration also pointed out that sole traders who have had a data box set up by law since last year must file their property tax returns electronically. They were already subject to electronic filing last year in the case of income tax returns.

"If owners fail to file their property tax returns on time, they face a penalty of 0.05 per cent of the tax amount for each day of delay. However, it is calculated only on the sixth working day after the deadline for filing, i.e. from 8 February 2024. The penalty for late filing is not imposed if it does not exceed CZK 1,000," said Jana Melicharová from KODAP.

The property tax is due by the end of May, with the second instalment due by the end of November if the tax is split. If the total tax liability with one tax authority is less than CZK 30, no tax is payable. An exception is made for co-ownership shares in land, on which tax is always due, at a minimum of 50 crowns.

Property tax consists of tax on land and tax on buildings and units, the rates of which depend on the nature of the property. The tax is then multiplied by a coefficient determined according to the size of the municipality and, where appropriate, by a local coefficient. This year, the basic tax coefficient increased by 80 percent. The tax yield is 100 per cent of municipal revenue, with CZK 12.45 billion collected last year.

Source: CTK