Mandatory TV and Radio Fees for Freelancers in Czech Republic – effective from 1.7.2025

CAUTION! If you are a freelancer (you have an active trade license) and you have a long-term residence permit or a permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic, you have to get registered for paying TV and radio fees before July 1, 2025. You will not have to pay anything unless you employ more than 25 people but you have to get registered otherwise you face 15 000 CZK combined fine (10k for TV and 5k for radio).

We are explaining how to get registered step by step in the article below but let us first provide a bit of context.

 It is mandatory for all Czechs (and some foreigners) who own radio, tv or any device capable of receiving a tv or a radio signal (meaning all smart phones, laptops etc.) in the Czech Republic to pay a monthly TV and Radio fees. This rule exists to finance “independent media” (understand state owned television) with lower amount of ads played during the watch time. Since citizens contribute to the budget of the national TV and Radio, these institutions do not have to rely that much on selling ad space and can still produce quality content. 

That is the theory. If that really works like that or not in real life is not the purpose of this article.

What is important for this article is that ALL FREELANCERS WITH LONG-TERM RESIDENCE PERMIT (not a long-term visa) or PERMANENT RESIDENCE PERMIT are now required to get registered to pay this fee before July 1, 2025. 

 If you have less than 25 employees, you will not actually have to pay the monthly fees. You STILL HAVE TO GET REGISTERED though otherwise you risk getting fines of 10 000 CZK for the TV fee and 5 000 CZK for the Radio fee. 

The registration can be done online and is pretty simple and straightforward. No English available though, which is why we have prepared this guide.

TV fees

1. Go to this website: https://poplatky.ceskatelevize.cz/firma/prihlaseni-k-platbe-tv-poplatku/autorizace-emailu
2. Fill in your e-mail address and click the big red button saying “Zaregistrovat se”.
3. This will send an e-mail to you. When you receive it, click another red button saying “Vytvořit účet na ČT”. 
4. That gets you to a confirmation page where you click another red button saying “Dokončit aktivaci”. 
5. Once you click that, you will be asked to create a password. Standard rules apply (letters, numbers, special characters etc.).
6. In the next step, you fill in your ICO – trade license number – 8 digits that you find in your trade license. 
7. When you put the number in, it immediately shows you details from the trade license registry. If it is really your details, click another red button saying “Pokračovat”.
8. Then you need to fill in couple details. In most cases, this is how you should fill it in:
   1. “Zadejte počet zaměstnanců” – number of employees – fill in “0”.
   2. “Pronajímáte dopravní prostředky, jejichž příslušenstvím je televizní přijímač?” – are you renting out vehicles with TV included – this should be “NE” for most people. 

Based on the details provided, you are calculated the accurate amount of fee to pay. Since freelancers only have to pay if they have more than 25 employees and/or rent out vehicles, 99% of you should get “0” as the amount of CZK to pay.  

      9. The just click another red button saying “Odeslat” and you are all set.
      10. If anything changes (we would primarily say if you get more than 25 employees or start renting out cars), you should report it                to the TV within 15 days.
      11. The Czech TV also sends you a confirmation e-mail saying you are not required to pay. 

Radio fees

1. Head to this website: https://ucet.poplatek.rozhlas.cz/registrace-novy-poplatnik.
2. Fill in your e-mail address into the “E-mailová adresa” box, check the “Registrací souhlasíte s …” box and click the dark blue “Vytvořit účet” button.
3. You should receive an e-mail from the Radio with a link to verify your e-mail (“Ověřit e-mailovou adresu”).
4. Once you click on the link, it will take you to a page to create your password. Standard rules apply (letters, numbers, special characters etc.). Write the passport into the “Zvolte si heslo” field next to your e-mail address.
5. In section “Rozhlasový poplatek” choose “Ještě neplatím” – I am not paying yet – field.
6. In section “Účet si registruji pro” choose “Podnikatelský subjekt” – I am registering as a business (freelancer).
7. Section “Údaje poplatníka”, subsection “Název subjektu” is your business name which means your full name as shown in your passport (i.e. Thomas Jeffrey Smith”), section “IČO” is your trade license number (8 digits found in your trade license). If you fill in your trade license number correctly, it should pre-populate the remaining fields with your address. If that does not happend, you will have to fill those in yourself.
8. Section “Kontaktní telefon” is your Czech phone number.
9. Section “Počet zaměstnanců” is the number of employees you have – same as for the TV fees, 99% of you will fill in “0” (or whatever is the real number of your employees.
10. Red notice shows up when you fill “0” – do not worry, that is not a mistake, that just says you are not a subject of paying the fees.
11. Below this section, you can find two check boxes – first one asks if you are renting out any vehicles (again, most of you leaves this unchecked), the second one is optional subscription for their newsletter.
12. Then you click the big dark blue button saying “Vytvořit účet a přihlásit poplatníka” – create account and log-in.
13. Once you click this, it takes you to your profile where you can check all relevant details. The most important probably section ”
    Pravidelná platba – 0 Kč čtvrtletně (0 Kč měsíčně)” which means you do not have to pay anything.
14. As of the date of writing this article, the Czech Radio does not send any further confirmation e-mails so you should be all set once you log-in and confirm you do not have to pay anything.

We hope this article helped you navigate through this potentially confusing process. If it did, share it with people who might need this information!

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