Page History

Legislation

Act no. 134/2016 Coll. on Public Procurement transposes EU legislation related to public procurement, including the Directive 2014/55/EU on electronic invoicing (eInvoicing) in public procurement, into the Czech national legislation.

Section 221 of the Act stipulates that public contracting authorities shall not reject any eInvoice issued by an economic operator if it is issued in a format compatible with the European standard on eInvoicing. The Act became effective on 1 October 2016.

In accordance with Ministerial decree no. 347/2017 Coll., eInvoices shall follow the definition in Directive 2014/55/EU, by having a structured electronic format which allows for its automatic and electronic processing. The Ministerial decree also stipulates that the format of eInvoices shall be compliant with Directive 2014/55/EU or Information System Document (ISDOC) version 5.2 and higher [1].

eInvoicing platform and management solutions

Launched in 2015, the Národní elektronický nástroj (NEN) platform enables central, regional and local public contracting authorities to process the entire eProcurement life-cycle. Developed by the Ministry of Regional Development, the platform replaces the Public Procurement and Concessions Portal (Portál VZ) as foreseen in the Public Procurement Strategy 2016-2020. Fully deployed by the end of 2017, the usage of the NEN platform is obligatory for all contracting authorities, unless they have the authorisation to use their own procurement tool. . The current Public Procurement Strategy 2024-2028 foresees the continued use of the NEN platform which should not undergo any structural changes.

Approach for receiving and processing

Public contracting authorities differ in their use of automated and integrated systems, semi-automated processes, or even manual processing. The NEN allows connections of contracting authorities' internal systems for receiving and processing eInvoices.

There is no legislation that mandates suppliers to send eInvoices for both Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government transactions (B2G). The government has not announced any plans to introduce legislation that makes eInvoicing obligatory. An eSignature is not required to send an eInvoices in Czechia.

The process of handling eInvoicing is considered as mostly automated. The vast majority of Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) and accounting programmes enhance support the usage of eInvoices. Some software providers are already working on their automatic distribution. All economic operators must issue eInvoices for B2G transactions with public administrations[1]. For receiving eInvoices, all public contracting authorities are mandated within a B2G context, while within a B2B context the buyer’s consent is required. An eSignature is not required and the archiving period for eInvoices amounts to ten years, while, archiving abroad is allowed under conditions[2]use of eInvoices and electronic submission of the VAT Control Statement.

eInvoicing implementation in sub-central level contracting authorities 

There is no information available on the approach used at the subcentral level. For all exchanges related to non-domestic suppliers, only XML, UBL 2.1 syntax, and the Czech standard ISDOC are accepted.

In addition to the European standard, Information System Document (ISDOC) is also used nationally.

The communication to SMEs about eInvoicing is done through workshops and regular meetings with entrepreneurs at the Chamber of Commerce.

There is an archiving process in place to deal with eInvoices.

There is a monitoring mechanism in place but only at the central level.

Status on the implementation of the European Standard on eInvoicing (EN)

The translation of the new European standard on eInvoicing (EN 16931) into Czech language and integration into the system of national technical standards (ČSN) was completed and published on 8 January 2018. This activity is led by the the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing (ÚNMZ) in  in cooperation with the National eInvoicing Forum, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Interior.

Accepted formats are the national ISDOC as well as EDIFACT and UBL[3].

Additional information

On 16 October 2008, 14 major Czech economic operators signed a Declaration on a common approach to electronic invoicing solutions in the Czech Republic, which contained a commitment to build and implement a common standard for eInvoicing within one year. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Interior also signed this document. This initiative leads to the launch of the national eInvoicing standard, ISDOC, on 19 March 2009.

The Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry the Interior developed the Public Procurement Strategy for the period 2016-2020. This strategy foresees the timely and effective compliance with the legislative and technological requirements arising from the adoption of the eInvoicing Directive 2014/55/EU.

Digital reporting requirements

On 16 October 2008, 14 major Czech economic operators signed a Declaration on a common approach to electronic invoicing solutions in the Czech Republic, which contained a commitment to build and implement a common standard for eInvoicing within one year. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Interior also signed this document. This initiative leads to the launch of the national eInvoicing standard, ISDOC, on 19 March 2009.

The Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry the Interior developed the Public Procurement Strategy for the period 2016-2020. This strategy foresees the timely and effective compliance with the legislative and technological requirements arising from the adoption of the eInvoicing Directive 2014/55/EU.

reporting requirements

The digital reporting obligations for Czech Republic  are stated in Articles 101c-101i of Act n° 235/2004 as part of the VAT Actin Czechia are outlined in Articles 101(c) – 101(i) of Act no. 235/2004 Coll. (called ‘Zákon o dani z přidané hodnoty’ or VAT Act).

Czech Republic as has introduced the obligation to submit electronically an appendix of the VAT return with detailed transactional data (called ‘Kontrolní ‘Kontrolní hlášení DPH’ or VAT Control Statement) as of January 2016. The VAT Control Statement must be submitted electronically.

The VAT Control Statement is a separated e-form with detailed outlines the transactions of “summary key lines” of ‘summary key lines’ in a VAT return.

Before its introduction, there was no other reporting requirement in place in Czech Republic. 

Reporting entities

The obligation to submit the VAT Control Statement applies to all taxable person registered in Czech Republic  for Czechia for VAT purposes, including non-resident businesses.

Act no. 112/2016 Coll. introduced the ‘electronic evidence of sales’ obligation (Elektronická evidence tržeb) which mandated enterprises to maintain an electronic registry of sales and transmit the data to the tax authorities. This Act was repealed in January 2023, citing an undue burden on small enterprises.

Below are listed the requirements of a VAT Control Statement:Scope of requirements

• All transactions regardless of their value (i.e. there is no threshold). However, transactions below CZK 10 000 (about EUR 380) must be reported on a per customer basis.
• B2B, B2G and B2C.
• Sales and purchases.
• Domestic transactions and Intra-EU acquisitions.
• Reporting frequency
• The reporting frequency is monthly (except for natural persons submitting it with their VAT return, i.e. monthly or quarterly).
• Reporting information (Semantic)
• Information must be reported on a transaction-by-transaction basis, with the exception of transactions in normal VAT regime below CZK 10 000 (about EUR 380 which must be reported via an overall summary. Transactions in reverse charge regime must be reported in detail, regardless the threshold.
• Invoice information submitted include the following:
• Invoice date (i.e. the date of obligation to declare the tax).
• Invoice number.
• Type of transaction.
• Tax rate.
• Taxable amount.
• VAT amount payable.
• Trading partner name.

 

Reporting format (Syntax) and embedded system

Data must be submitted using the XML format, either through the Tax Portal using the EPO web application or through a third-party interface via secure network of Data boxes [4].

The Czech Republic recently launched the MY TAX (Moje Daně) portal, which is the new online portal for tax compliance replacing the old online portal (decommissioned effective February 28, 2022). The purpose of the new portal is to simplify the electronic communication between the tax authority and taxpayers [5]. .

Additional information

On 16 October 2008, 14 major Czech economic operators signed a Declaration on a common approach to electronic invoicing solutions in the Czech Republic, which contained a commitment to build and implement a common standard for eInvoicing within one year. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Interior also signed this document. This initiative leads to the launch of the national eInvoicing standard, ISDOC, on 19 March 2009.

The Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry the Interior developed the Public Procurement Strategy for the period 2016-2020. This strategy ensured the timely and effective compliance with the legislative and technological requirements arising from the adoption of the eInvoicing Directive 2014/55/EU.

[1] (Ministry of Finance Czech Republic, 2024) [1] (List of countries for your e-invoicing requirements, 2021), [2] (Compliance updates Czech Republic, 2021), [3] (List of countries for your e-invoicing requirements, 2021), [4] (VAT in the Digital Age Report, 2022) and [5] Financial Administration of the Czech Republic

Last updated: