🇨🇿 Czech Republic — What a Czech Invoice Must Contain in 2026

This guide is written in English, but the rules below are specifically Czech: they apply when you issue invoices under Czech law as a self-employed individual (OSVČ) or a limited company (s.r.o.) registered in the Czech Republic. If you invoice from another country, the mandatory fields will differ.

Invoicing is one of the first things you deal with when you start out. This article covers everything that has to be on a Czech invoice — for a non-VAT payer and a VAT payer — including rounding, the due date, how long to keep invoices, and how to issue one without a single mistake.

Quick answer

A Czech invoice must always carry your core supplier details: name or business name, registered seat or place of business, company ID (IČO), and the mandatory sentence about your entry in the Trade or Commercial Register. If you keep double-entry accounting, add the label "Faktura", the customer's details, the issue date, a description of the supply, and the price. If you are a VAT payer, you additionally need the tax document number, tax IDs (DIČ), the date of taxable supply (DUZP), the tax base, the VAT rate, and the VAT amount in CZK. A stamp and a signature are not required.

Main takeaways

Who this applies to

Self-employed individuals (OSVČ) and companies (s.r.o.) that issue invoices under Czech law. Most of the article assumes an ordinary supply of goods or services to a Czech customer; cross-border invoicing has extra rules, covered in the EU services guide and the invoicing abroad guide.

"Faktura" is not defined by Czech law

Czech law does not actually define the word faktura. What matters is the function the document performs:

• An invoice issued by a non-VAT payer works as an accounting document (účetní doklad).
• An invoice issued by a VAT payer works as a tax document (daňový doklad).

That distinction drives which fields are mandatory. Keep every issued invoice archived — ideally digitally. A tax authority or Trade Licensing Office audit can ask to see accounting documents for 5 years and tax documents for 10 years after the end of the relevant period.

Because the term is undefined, a person who is not an entrepreneur can also issue an "invoice" — but it must never contain the words "DPH" (VAT), "DUZP", or "daňový doklad" (tax document).

What every Czech invoice must contain

If you are not a VAT payer

• Business name or your name
• Registered seat (sídlo) or place of business
• Company ID (IČO)
• Sole traders must include a sentence along the lines of "Fyzická osoba zapsaná v živnostenském rejstříku" ("Natural person registered in the Trade Register") — required by § 435(1) of the Civil Code. No further detail is needed.
• Companies (s.r.o. and similar) must include a fuller reference, e.g. "Společnost zapsaná v obchodním rejstříku vedeném Městským soudem v … , oddíl …, vložka …" ("Company registered in the Commercial Register kept by the … Court, section …, insert …").

Stating "neplátce DPH" ("not a VAT payer") on the invoice is optional.

If you keep double-entry accounting

The Act on Accounting (§ 11) requires these additional items from anyone obliged to keep accounts — and they are good practice for everyone else too:

• Label of the accounting document → the word "Faktura". (The label "Daňový doklad" is only for VAT payers; a non-payer should not use it.)
• The transaction and its parties → supplier, customer, and the invoice line items
• Amount, or unit price and quantity (for example an hourly rate)
• Date the document was drawn up → the issue date
• Date of the transaction, if different from the issue date
• Signature record of the person responsible for the accounting case and of the person responsible for posting it

That last point does not mean you have to sign the invoice you issue. It refers to signatures on the customer's side. An invoice without the issuer's stamp or signature is valid.

If you are a VAT payer

On top of everything above, § 29 of the VAT Act requires:

• The customer's tax ID (DIČ), if the customer is a VAT payer
• A sequential tax document number (e.g. 2026-1234)
• The date of taxable supply (DUZP) or date of payment received — whichever is earlier — if it differs from the issue date
• The tax base
• The VAT rate (21% standard or 12% reduced), or a statement that the supply is exempt with a reference to the relevant provision
• The VAT amount in CZK, rounded to the nearest unit of currency in circulation or shown in hellers

Do you need a stamp or a signature?

No. Neither a stamp nor a signature is required — on paper or electronic invoices — for a non-VAT payer or a VAT payer.

Does the invoice need a due date?

Legally, no. But you should always state one, or your cash flow turns into guesswork. Without a due date, § 1963 of the Civil Code applies a 30-day payment period by default. There is no statutory minimum due date — if both sides agree, payment can even fall on the delivery date.

Rounding VAT on the invoice

The VAT amount itself is never rounded. Since the 2019 amendment to the VAT Act, VAT is always calculated precisely, to two decimal places (hellers).

Only the final amount payable may be rounded, and it depends on the payment method:

• Bank transfer or card — no need to round; leaving hellers on the invoice is fine.
• Cash — heller coins no longer exist, so round the total to the whole koruna.

When you round the total to the nearest whole koruna, the rounding difference is not taxed — it is not included in the VAT base. Since October 2021 this applies the same way to cash and cashless payments (§ 36(5) of the VAT Act).

Checklist: does your invoice have everything?

Run through this before you send, depending on whether you are a VAT payer.

If you are not a VAT payer

• Supplier name / business name
• Registered seat or place of business
• IČO
• Register sentence (Trade Register / Commercial Register)
• Payment details (account number, variable symbol)
• Due date (recommended, not mandatory)

Also, if you keep accounting:

• The label "Faktura" (not "Daňový doklad")
• Customer's details
• Issue date
• Description of the supply (line items) and price

Do not write "DPH", "DUZP", or "daňový doklad" on the invoice. No stamp or signature needed.

If you are a VAT payer

• Everything from the list above (core details)
• The label "Daňový doklad"
• Supplier's DIČ (and the customer's, if they are a payer)
• Sequential tax document number
• DUZP (date of taxable supply)
• Tax base
• VAT rate (or a reference to the exemption)
• VAT amount in CZK (in hellers, not rounded)
• Due date (recommended)

Issuing an invoice without the errors

Our free Czech invoice generator builds a professional, VAT-ready invoice in your browser — no sign-up, no account, nothing stored. Choose your VAT status, add your line items, and download the PDF. Put your trade- or commercial-register sentence in the registration note field and it prints as a footer on every invoice; the right VAT note is added automatically when you are not registered, and setting the client's country to another EU member state adds the reverse-charge note and zeroes the VAT for cross-border B2B.

A free Podnikio account adds what a one-off tool cannot: your issuer details and logo saved once, a reusable client list and saved payment methods, a history of every invoice you have issued, recurring invoices that generate and send themselves on a schedule, and — once ready — a business bank account that matches incoming payments to invoices automatically, plus an accountant who handles the filings. See the how to issue an invoice guide for the step by step.

Frequently asked questions

Can I issue an invoice if I am not an entrepreneur?

Yes — Czech law does not restrict who may issue an "invoice", so someone without an IČO can too. The document simply must not use the terms "DPH", "DUZP", or "daňový doklad". If your extra earnings are genuinely occasional income (příležitostný příjem), you do not even have to report them up to CZK 50,000 per year, and therefore do not tax them. Regular, systematic activity for profit is business — then you need an IČO and it goes on the invoice.

When must I issue an invoice?

On a customer's request you must issue a document for the goods or service — the date, the type, and the price — under § 31 of the Trade Licensing Act. A full invoice satisfies this, and a VAT payer may use a simplified tax document for supplies up to CZK 10,000. Generally, business customers always ask, since they need it for their books. You are also obliged to invoice as a VAT payer or identified person, on supplies to the EU, on an advance received as a VAT payer, and whenever a contract says so.

How far back can I issue an invoice?

A VAT payer should issue the invoice within 15 days of the taxable supply or of receiving payment, whichever is earlier. A non-VAT payer has no specific deadline under the Act on Accounting, but the supply date on the invoice must be correct and the invoice must still land in the right period for income-tax purposes.

How do I invoice a customer abroad?

That has its own rules — see invoicing services to the EU and invoicing customers abroad.

Contact us

If you are unsure whether your invoices meet the Czech requirements, or how a specific situation affects your VAT obligations, feel free to reach out. We offer a free initial consultation.