After weeks of discussing, it is finally here – all freelancers affected by the COVID-19 situation qualify for a 25 000 CZK support from the government. And it is actually quite simple to apply for it. Read on for a detailed guide on how to do that.
Who qualifies for the 25 000 CZK governmental support?
So called “kompenzační bonus pro OSVČ” (“compensation bonus for freelancers”) is officially only meant for those freelancers who’s business has been negatively affected by the COVID-19 situation, meaning that you had to close your business completely or you have lost a significant part of your income because of the situation. The most typical example are restaurant owners who had to close their restaurants completely, English teachers who lost teaching hours because of closed schools, etc.
The bonus is not officially meant for people for whom nothing has really changed because of the situation (i.e. if you are a web developer working from home normally anyway and you have still had the same amount of clients as before the COVID-19).
The bonus get be granted to everyone who’s trade license was activated before March 12 this year (when the state of emergency started).
How to apply for the 25 000 CZK support?
Unlike the first drafts of the “compensation bonus” law, you do not have to prove anything to the government now (in one of the previous drafts, you would have to prove that your incomes have decreased at least by 10% comparing with the same time last year, etc.). You basically just have to fill in a form and send it to the Tax Office responsible for the area of where you live.
Let’s go through everything step by step now.
- Download the required form here: Application for compensation bonus. If the form does not open correctly (that happens for some reason, mainly if you try to open it on mobile or in your browser), click on the link using the left mouse button and choose “Save as”, download it to your laptop and open with a standard Adobe or other pdf reader. If that still does not work, read our other blog here and fill in the application online.
- If you are downloading the form, fill in the following details:
- After “Finančnímu úřadu” choose the tax office of the region where you live. For example if you live in Prague, choose “pro hlavní město Prahu” (Capital City of Prague), if you live in Brno, choose “pro Jihomoravský kraj” (South Moravian region), etc.
- In the “Územní pracoviště (v/ve/pro)” field, fill in the exact district of where you live. For example, if you have chosen the “pro hlavní město Prague” (Prague) as your region and you live in Prague 3, choose “Praha 3” in this field. The simplest way to do this right is to fill in the same details as you have in your registration letter from the Tax Office or the same information your accountant filled into your tax return this year. Once you have done this, an e-mail address will appear under these two fields. This is the e-mail address (and only this one, no other) where you have to send the form once completed.
- “Jméno a příjmení” is your full name (your first name, middle name/s and your surname).
- “Datum narození” is your date of birth. Please mind it must be written the Czech way – day is first, month second, year third!
- “DIČ” is your Tax number you have received from the tax office when you got registered there (it usually has 12 characters and it looks like this “CZ1234567891”). As long as you have a trade license, you must have DIC! It is not only for VAT payers or given to you only in some cases. If you can not find your DIC, contacts us and we’ll be happy to help.
- “Kontaktní údaje (telefon/email)” is your Czech phone number (in the shorter filed) and your e-mail address (in the longer field).
- “Adresa místa pobytu” is your address in the Czech Republic.
- “Účet vedený u” is the name of your Czech bank (where you want the bonus to be sent). For example “Raiffeisen Bank”, “Česká spořitelna”, “Komerční banka”, “Equa bank” etc.
- “č. účtu” is your bank account number.
- “kod banky” is your bank code. For example “5500” for Raiffeisen bank, 0800 for Česká spořitelna, etc.
- In the “B” part named “POŽADOVANÁ ČÁSTKA”, the government is asking you for what period of time you want to get the bonus. If you choose “Plná částka (tj. od 12. 3. do 30. 4. 2020)” you are asking for the maximum possible support from 12.3.2020 till the end of April 2020. If you are asking for a shorter support (i.e. your business was still good in March but you lost most of your business in April, you fill in the dates accordingly.
- “V” goes for the place where you have signed the document (i.e. “Praha”, “Brno”).
- “Dne” goes for the date when you signed the form (i.e. 10.4.2020 – again the CZECH way of DD.MM.YYYY).
- Once the form is completed, print it out, sign it and either scan it or take a good photo of it.
- Send the form as an attachment to the e-mail address described in point 2.2. above. The subject of the e-mail must only contain the following “Žádost o kompenzační bonus pro OSVČ”. The maximum size of the e-mail is 4MB.
- HOORAY – you have submitted your application now. There will be no confirmation from the side of the Tax Office. If the application was correct though, you will receive the bonus to the bank account stated in the form hopefully within the next couple of days.
Since this is fresh, we do not exactly know how long it will take for you to receive the bonus or if there are gonna be any problems or unexpected challenges in the process.
We are here for you, ready to help with everything though so please Contact us if you need help filling in the form or with anything else. We’ll be thrilled to help! 🙂
Move To Prague – your first friend in Prague!
Hi,
Thank you so much for this very informative article.
I applied and got my živno two months ago. Was i supposed to receive my tax number in the mail?
Hi Sarah,
Thank you very much for your comment!
When you get your trade license, you have to get registered with the following authorities:
– Tax Office (Financni urad) – this is for paying the income tax and this is where you get your tax number (DIC)
– Social Security Office (ČSSZ) – this is for paying the social security and where you get your social security variable symbol
– Health Insurance company (there are more, the health insurance only applies to EU citizens and a few more nationalities such as Americans) – this is where you get your health insurance number.
You usually need to submit all the registrations in person or can mail them to the authorities. Some of the mail you the registration details back once they are ready. Some authorities will wait for you to stop by and some authorities will simply lose your documents so you will have to submit them again.
Finishing the registrations should not officially take longer than 30 days each so if you have already been waiting for two months, I would recommend following up with the authorities to see where you stand 🙂
We’ll be happy to help if you wish, just get in touch 🙂
Thank you and have a lovely day!
Jan on behalf of the whole team
Thanks very much for the info and links. I haven’t looked at the form yet, but I just have a question about point no. 5. I don’t pay DPH, so I don’t have DIČ, I have only IČO. Will that make a difference?
Hi Garrett,
Thank you for your question!
All freelancers have DIČ, it is not only for DPH payers. You had to get your DIČ when you registered with Financni urad when you got your trade license. You also use the DIC for your tax returns.
If you get in touch, we’ll be happy to send you a photo of what the registration with your DIC looks like.
Hopefully this helps! 🙂
Jan&Daria
Hi, sorry for the delay but after looking at the form, I see that we can use Rodné číslo (RČ) instead of DIČ, which is what I always use on my tax forms, as I don’t have DIČ. But thanks anyway. Hope you’re staying safe.
Hi,
Thanks for the explanation. I have a few questions however. I moved, but still live in Prague, since i got my original financial letter and since I am waiting to pick up my visa I can’t change my address at the financial office. Do I put the old address that is on my letter or my new one that is registered at the MOI but not the financial office? Also, my business address differs from my home address, does this matter?
Thanks.
Hi Spencer,
Thank you very much for your comment 🙂
This is a complicated thing to answer if we do not know details.
In general then:
– you should always keep your address updated with the MOI
– the Tax Office can access the Foreigners system and they should move your file accordingly (say from tax office in Prague where you used to live to the tax office in Prague 4 where you live now) and they should notify you about that
– they are similar as all Czech authorities so they not always move your file
If they have not notified you about transferring your file to a different branch, I would recommend using the same address as you used for your last tax return, that seems to be the safest 🙂
Please let us know if you need any more detailed information and have a great day! 🙂
Jan on behalf of the whole team
Hi,
I’ve looked on my forms, but I still cannot find my DIC number and I’m afraid I’ve misplaced my Tax letter.
Where else can I find it?
Thank you very much.
Hi Matt,
Thank you for your comment 🙂
This is actually a pretty common question!
The best place to find your tax number is at the registration from the tax office (the one you got when you first received the trade license).
If you can not find the registration letter, you should also have your tax number at any tax return you have submitted in the past.
If you have none of those documents, you can just go to the Tax Office responsible for your file and ask there directly.
If you need any help with that, please go to contacts and get in touch 🙂
I hope this helps!
Jan on behalf of the whole team
Hi Matt,
Well, if you can not find the DIC number in any of your documents (Tax Registration letter, tax return, etc.), you can always go to the Tax Office and ask there directly.
Just make sure you bring a Czech speaker with you since they usually do not speak English at all.
Please let us know if you need any help with that!
Have a great day!
Jan
Hello,
Regarding the ČSSZ and VZP, social security and health insurance, is it confirmed that freelancers do not have to pay the minimum amount during 6 months please?
Thank you
Nicolas
Hi Nicolas,
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, it is official 🙂 Freelancers do not have to pay the minimum monthly fees from March till August. If you have already paid for March, the payment will be credited for September.
We have already seen documents from the ČSSZ showing and confirming that 🙂
Let us know if you have any more question!
Jan on behalf of the team