🇨🇿 Czech Republic — Invoicing Customers Abroad in 2026

This guide is in English, for a self-employed individual (OSVČ) or a limited company (s.r.o.) based in the Czech Republic invoicing customers in other countries. Invoicing abroad can be a puzzle — especially VAT into the EU — so this covers everything from the extra mandatory fields to the VAT tables.

Quick answer

An invoice abroad needs the usual mandatory contents plus IBAN, SWIFT, the currency, and the exchange rate (usually the Czech National Bank rate — at the date of taxable supply for VAT payers, at the issue date for non-payers). A VAT payer issuing a foreign-currency invoice must also state the VAT amount in CZK (only the VAT amount — not the whole invoice — converted at the CNB rate). Choose an invoice language the recipient understands (English or their own). Whether you charge VAT depends on who the customer is and where the place of supply is: a non-VAT payer usually invoices without VAT (but becomes an identified person when supplying a service to an EU business); a VAT payer uses reverse charge for another EU VAT payer, Czech VAT for an EU consumer, and mostly an exemption outside the EU (with proof of export).

Main takeaways

Who this applies to

OSVČ and s.r.o. in the Czech Republic invoicing abroad. For services specifically, the place-of-supply mechanics are covered in more depth in invoicing services to the EU.

Mandatory contents of an invoice abroad

Beyond the usual fields, a foreign invoice must carry a few extras.

IBAN and SWIFT

As well as the account number, show IBAN and SWIFT to identify your account. It is also customary — though not required by law — to add the name of your bank, since it can be needed to make the payment.

Exchange rate

The rate at which the amounts are converted. Most commonly the Czech National Bank foreign-exchange rate, taken at the date of taxable supply if you are a VAT payer, or at the issue date if you are not. The VAT amount must be shown in CZK as well as the invoice currency. (The CNB declares each business day's rate at around 14:30, and it then stays in force until the next one. A document issued before 14:30 therefore uses the previous working day's rate; one issued later the same day uses the new rate — so two invoices from the same day can legitimately differ, and you do not redo the conversion once the new rate appears. Weekends and public holidays also use the last declared rate. A business may instead fix a single CNB rate for a whole year in its internal rules.)

Invoice language

Your customer should understand everything on the invoice. Issue it in the customer's language, or in a language you both understand — usually English.

Optional customary items

The supplier's bank name (above). An invoice may also — but need not — show a 0% rate and a tax amount of CZK 0 where the supply is exempt or under reverse charge.

VAT on invoices abroad

This is a genuinely complicated area. The table below gives you the basic overview, whether you are a VAT payer or not.

Overview: how VAT works

Detail: VAT payer invoicing another EU VAT payer

When you, as a VAT payer, invoice another VAT payer in a different EU state, the VAT treatment follows the subject and place of supply:

• Services under the basic rule — place of supply at the recipient's seat/establishment in the EU → reverse charge.
• Services connected to immovable property (construction, accommodation, restaurant services, valuers, estate agents) — where the property is; Czech VAT if in the Czech Republic, reverse charge if in another EU state.
• Cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, and educational services — where the event is held; Czech VAT or reverse charge accordingly.
• Catering services — where physically provided (special rules on ships, aircraft, trains within the EU).
• Passenger transport — where the transport takes place.
• Goods dispatched or transported to the EU — where the goods are after transport ends → exempt + reverse charge.
• Goods with installation or assembly — where installed; Czech VAT if in the Czech Republic, exempt + reverse charge if in another EU state.
• Hire of a means of transport — short-term: place of handover; long-term: lessee's seat/residence.
• New means of transport to the EU — the invoice must state "Jedná se o nový dopravní prostředek" ("This is a new means of transport"); exempt + reverse charge.
• Transfer of immovable property — where the property is.

Reverse charge — the mandatory sentence

Reverse charge (přenesená daňová povinnost) means the customer assesses and pays the VAT. Invoice at 0% VAT and put the reverse-charge mention on the document. It must match an official language version of the EU VAT Directive (2006/112/EC, Art. 226(11a)) word for word — it is not a free translation you compose yourself. Use the Czech wording, the English wording, or the version for the invoice language:

• CZ — "Daň odvede zákazník"
• EN — "Reverse charge"
• DE — "Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers"
• SK — "Prenesenie daňovej povinnosti"
• FR — "Autoliquidation"

An invoice issued in English does not need the Czech sentence — "Reverse charge" on its own is enough (this follows the General Financial Directorate's guidance on invoicing rules). The tax office can still ask you, later, to supply a Czech translation of the whole document.

Exemption from VAT — the mandatory sentence

For supplies exempt from VAT (see the overview table), no VAT is shown on the invoice; instead you add, in the invoice language:

• CZ — "Osvobozeno od daně podle zákona o DPH č. 235/2004"
• EN — "Tax exemption according to VAT Law no. 235/2004"
• DE — "Steuerbefreiung laut Umsatzsteuergesetz Nr. 235/2004"
• SK — "Oslobodenie od dane podľa zákona o DPH č. 235/2004"

Invoices received from abroad — what is DEČ?

Received a document with a tax ID starting with the letters EU? That is not a DIČ but a DEČ (daňové evidenční číslo — tax registration number). It:

• Cannot be verified in VIES — only a DIČ can. There is no reason to verify a DEČ, because it appears only on invoices to final consumers.
• Appears only on documents from third countries — often from European states outside the EU, or invoices from Canada, the USA, or Australia.
• Is meant for non-taxable persons. As a business (company or OSVČ) you should not receive a document with a DEČ; if you do, it is usually the supplier's mistake, or they did not know you are a business.

You are a VAT payer and received a document with a DEČ

Such documents show VAT. You cannot reclaim that VAT — § 72(2) of the VAT Act defines input tax as tax "applied under this Act". You can ask the supplier to issue a correct document without VAT; if they will not, you have to write off the VAT paid and apply reverse charge, with the tax base being the amount including the stated VAT.

How VAT works on invoices received from abroad

Most often you meet the reverse-charge regime: the foreign supplier sends an invoice without VAT, and the obligation to calculate and declare the tax is yours.

• VAT payers declare the tax in the VAT return and reclaim it at the same time — usually netting to zero, but the transaction must go through the books.
• Receiving an EU service (Facebook ads, Google Ads, software) or goods worth over CZK 326,000 per year as a non-VAT payer makes you an identified person automatically; you must register at the tax office within 15 days. You calculate and pay Czech-rate VAT on the received invoice and, unlike a payer, cannot reclaim it — it is a pure cost.
• For purchases from outside the EU, services work with reverse charge much as within the EU. Imported goods clear customs: a registered VAT payer self-assesses the import VAT in the VAT return (§ 23 of the VAT Act) and customs does not collect it at the border; a non-payer or identified person pays the import VAT assessed by the customs office, along with any duty.

How our tools help

Our free Czech invoice generator covers the invoice itself: pick your invoice currency, put your IBAN and SWIFT in the payment-details field, and set the client's country to their EU member state to issue at zero VAT with the reverse-charge note. A free Podnikio account adds a saved client list with stored VAT IDs, a history of every foreign invoice, and a connected accountant who handles the identified-person registration, the EC Sales List, and the VAT return.

Further reading

• Invoicing services to the EU — the place-of-supply rules for services, in depth
• What a Czech invoice must contain — the base set of mandatory fields
• General Financial Directorate — Information on invoicing rules implementing Directive 2010/45/EU into the VAT Act (PDF)

Contact us

If you are unsure how a specific foreign supply affects your VAT — reverse charge, exemption, or identified-person status — feel free to reach out. We offer a free initial consultation.