What a document for accommodation must contain depends on whether you are a VAT payer (plátce DPH) and whether a company or a private guest is paying. A VAT payer issues a tax document (daňový doklad) within 15 days of receiving the payment, where the law requires one (§ 28(8) of the VAT Act), and the final document only after the guest leaves.
A non-payer shows only identification and price, a payer a full tax document
A VAT non-payer has no automatic duty. For a private guest (a consumer) you must issue a document on request (§ 16(1) of the Consumer Protection Act). Five items are enough: the date the service was provided, what the service was, the price, your name or business name and your company ID (IČO).
The content of a commercial document is governed by § 435(1) of the Civil Code. You state your name and registered office, the entry in the register or other record where you are kept, and the IČO if you have been assigned one. That an invoice follows this too is the usual reading, as the law does not name the invoice specifically.
Prices are final, without a VAT breakdown. Never show an amount of tax on the document: whoever shows tax on a document must declare it, payer or not (§ 108(4)(g) of the VAT Act).
A payer issues a tax document under § 29(1) of the VAT Act. It must carry:
- the names and VAT numbers (DIČ) of you and of the customer,
- a serial number,
- the scope and subject of the supply,
- the date of issue and the date of the taxable supply (DUZP),
- the unit price without tax and any discount,
- the tax base, the tax rate and the amount of tax in crowns.
The serial number (§ 29(1)(e)) must be unique within its series, which the European VAT Directive requires (Art. 226(2)). No regulation requires a number series without gaps.
An advance triggers VAT for a payer on the day received, and a document within 15 days for a company
If you receive an advance before the stay, a payer must declare tax already on the day it is received (§ 20a(2)). A reservation names the service, the rate and the place, so it is specific enough (§ 20a(3)). Accommodation in Czechia is a domestic supply, because the place of supply is where the property is (§ 10(1)).
Whether you must issue a document depends on the guest. A payer has the duty towards a person liable to tax or a legal person not liable to tax (§ 28(1)(a) and (d)). The deadline is 15 days from the day the duty to declare tax arose (§ 28(8)). For a private guest the VAT Act requires no document, neither for the advance nor for the stay.
On a document for a received payment, the DUZP is the day the payment was received (§ 29(1)(h)) and the base is the amount received reduced by the tax (§ 36(2)). It need not show a unit price (§ 29(3)(d)). The scope of the supply may be missing only if it is not yet known on the day of payment (§ 29(3)(c)); for a confirmed reservation the dates of the stay belong on the line.
An advance invoice (proforma) is not a tax document, because it does not meet the conditions of § 26(1). It therefore does not replace the document for a received payment for a company. Do not write "tax document" on it and do not show an amount of tax on it, otherwise it could mislead (§ 435(2) of the Civil Code).
Issue the final invoice after departure, for the difference against the advances only
The tax base on the final document is the difference between the full price and what the advance documents have already declared (§ 37a(1)). If the guest paid everything in advance, the base is zero. Repeating the full price would mean declaring the same tax twice.
The date of issue also decides the period. If you issue the final document before the stay, its date of issue becomes the DUZP (§ 21(3)) and the stay falls into an earlier tax period. After departure, the DUZP stays with the stay.
The tourist tax goes on the invoice without a rate and outside the tax base
A 0% rate does not belong on the tourist tax (poplatek z pobytu), as the VAT Act knows only 21% and 12% (§ 47(1)). It does not enter the tax base (§ 36(14) of the VAT Act), because you collect an amount the guest owes the municipality. The taxpayer is the guest (§ 3 of the Local Fees Act) and you collect it (§ 3f(2)). The condition is that you do not collect more than you remit and that you claim no tax deduction on it.
On the invoice it is a separate line with the text "outside VAT" and no rate. It counts towards the total the guest pays, but not towards any tax base in the summary. The rate is set by the municipality in a decree, and the law sets only a ceiling of CZK 50 (§ 3d and § 14(2) of the Local Fees Act).
Accommodation is charged at 12%, electricity at 21%
The law knows two rates, 21% and 12% (§ 47(1)). The stay is in the lower rate of 12%, like the food you offer with the stay. Electricity consumption is at 21%. A mandatory cleaning fee is usually part of the accommodation at 12%, so check this with your accountant.
One invoice therefore usually carries lines with different rates and, at the end, a summary by rate: tax base and tax separately for 12% and for 21%. A foreign company also pays Czech VAT of 12% for a stay in Czechia (§ 10(1)). If your case looks different, for example a long-term or company stay, check it with your accountant.
A private guest does not need an invoice, issue one anyway
A non-payer owes a private guest nothing until the guest asks for a document. A payer does not owe one at all under the VAT Act. Issue the document anyway.
Guests ask, companies need it for their books, and you benefit from a document as proof of how much came in and when. If you always issue one, you do not have to think about every reservation whether the duty has already arisen.
One exception for a payer. A company guest always needs a tax document, for the advance and for the stay (§ 28(1)).
What to take away
- A non-payer issues a document to a private guest on request, with identification and price (§ 16(1) of the Consumer Protection Act), never with an amount of tax (§ 108(4)(g) of the VAT Act).
- A payer issues a tax document with the particulars of § 29(1) within 15 days of receiving the payment (§ 28(8)), where the law requires one.
- A payer always issues a tax document to a company guest, while the VAT Act does not require one for a private guest.
- An advance invoice does not replace a tax document and must not pose as one.
- Issue the final document after departure, for the difference against the advances only (§ 37a(1), § 21(3)).
- The tourist tax is a separate line outside VAT (§ 36(14)).
- Accommodation 12%, electricity 21%, each rate in its own summary.
Chalupario watches this for you. At booking it issues an advance invoice, for every payment received before arrival a tax document (a document for a received payment for non-payers), and on the morning after departure the final invoice with the advances deducted. Every document goes to the guest by e-mail as a PDF, for payers and non-payers alike, as long as your billing details are filled in. Invoicing in Chalupario shows how it looks.
