What a Czech guest book must contain

What a guest book must contain depends on whom you accommodate. Czech law knows no "guest book". It knows two books: the evidence book (evidenční kniha) for the tourist tax (poplatek z pobytu) and the house book (domovní kniha) for foreigners. You keep both for six years from the last entry, and both can be put on the table at an inspection.

We go through what belongs in which book, when one record is enough for both, what happens at an inspection and how reporting foreigners to the police works. For every claim we give the section number, so you can check it yourself. We rely on the Local Fees Act and the Residence of Foreigners Act.

How Chalupario collects guest details and records the tourist tax→

What a guest book must contain: two books, two laws

The first is the evidence book under § 3g of the Local Fees Act. You keep it if your municipality has introduced the tourist tax and you collect it, separately for each facility or place where you provide paid accommodation. The tax applies to every guest who is not registered in the municipality, § 3, so also to a Czech from another town.

The second is the house book under § 101 of the Residence of Foreigners Act. It concerns foreigners only. Under § 1(2), a foreigner is anyone who is not a citizen of the Czech Republic, including citizens of the European Union, so also a German, a Pole or a Slovak.

If you accommodate only Czechs, you do not have to keep a house book. You do have to keep the evidence book as soon as you collect the tax.

Evidence book: what to record about each guest

In the evidence book you record details of every natural person to whom you provide paid accommodation. Under § 3g(2) these are:

• the first and last day of the stay,
• first name or names, surname and the address of the place of registration or a similar place abroad,
• date of birth,
• number and type of identity document,
• the amount of tax collected, or the reason for exemption from the tax.

You do not invent the type of document, as the law lists nine. Among them are the identity card, a travel document and a permanent residence permit. The last item applies to exempt guests too, for example children under 18: you record them, with the reason for exemption in place of an amount.

House book: details of foreigners and their signature

The house book contains the details required on the registration form, plus the start and end of the accommodation, § 101(1). What belongs on the form is listed in § 97:

• first name and surname,
• date of birth,
• citizenship,
• permanent residence abroad,
• number of the travel document and of the visa, if one is marked in the document,
• start and place of the stay,
• expected length and purpose of the stay.

Under § 103(b), the foreigner presents a document to you and fills in and signs the registration form in person, or signs a written document with the same details. A foreigner under 15 need not sign. The law speaks of a form and a written document, so check with the foreign police whether a signature on a screen is enough before you rely on an online form alone.

One record for both books, on paper or on a computer

The law does not forbid keeping one record for both books, as long as it carries all the details each of them requires. Common to both are first name, surname, date of birth, address, document and the start and end of the stay. In addition, a foreigner needs citizenship, expected length and purpose of the stay and the visa number, and the tax needs the amount collected or the reason for exemption.

Watch the document. The evidence book wants its type, from the nine listed, and its number, while the house book wants the number of the travel document. For a single record, therefore, write both the type and the number of the document.

The evidence book may be kept "in paper or electronic form", § 3g(1), so a notebook as well as a spreadsheet. For the house book the law speaks of a document and does not mention electronic form expressly. Its entries, however, must be made in current time, regularly, clearly and in order of time, § 101(3).

Six years from the last entry and what you show at an inspection

You keep the evidence book for 6 years from the day of the last entry, § 3g(4). You keep the house book for 6 years from the last entry too, § 101(4). If you keep signed written documents of foreigners instead of a book, the six years run from the end of the foreigner's accommodation.

The period is therefore counted from the last entry in the book, not from the departure of an individual guest. If you keep one book for several years, older entries stay in it until six years have passed since the last one.

The police inspect the house book. On request you must present it, and at the start of an inspection you must present the book with the details of the foreigners currently staying with you, § 100(f). You must also cooperate so the police can get the data from the book you present, § 101(2).

For the evidence book, the quality of the entries decides. Under § 3g(3) they must be correct, complete, conclusive, clear, comprehensible, permanent and arranged progressively in time. Whoever asks about the tax should find in the book, for every guest, when the guest stayed, who it was and how much was paid or why the guest was exempt.

You report foreigners to the police within three working days

Keeping the house book and reporting foreigners are two separate duties. You must notify the police unit of a foreigner's accommodation within 3 working days of the accommodation, § 102(1). This applies to guests from the European Union too.

The law gives three ways: submit the registration form, submit a copy of the written document with the same details, or fill in an electronic form in an internet application, § 102(2). Whoever runs accommodation as a business reports over the internet, if such access is set up and working, para. 3. In practice this means the police application UbyPort.

Chalupario handles this duty with you. The details the guest fills in at online check-in go to a connected guest-book service, and it reports the foreigner to the police within the deadline. On the reservation you see whether the report went out, and you retype nothing by hand.

Summary

• The law knows no "guest book", it knows the tourist tax evidence book and the foreigners' house book.
• You keep the evidence book for each property where your municipality has introduced the tax, and record all paying guests in it, exempt ones included.
• The house book concerns foreigners, EU citizens too, and carries the details from the registration form.
• One record may serve both books when it carries the details of both.
• You keep both books for 6 years from the last entry.
• You report foreigners to the police within 3 working days of accommodation.

What to do now

1. Ask the municipal office whether your municipality has introduced the tourist tax and, if so, start an evidence book for each property.
2. Unify your guest form so one record carries the details of both books, including citizenship, purpose of the stay and type of document.
3. Make sure you report foreigners to the police within three working days of arrival, by hand or through a system that does it for you.