# Czech Republic: taxes, residence and cost of living Source: https://domicile.wiki/places/czech-republic/ (domicile.wiki, researched 2026-10-16). Data licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Research, not tax or legal advice. ## At a glance For an EU-citizen family of five living off a EUR 30M portfolio (the guide's default reader). - Score for a wealthy family: 82 / 100 - Can EU citizens live here?: free: register as an EU citizen - Can US citizens live here?: only work or business permits - Other passports: only work or business permits - Tax on a €30M portfolio: €9,000 a year - Wealth tax: none - Children inherit: tax-free - After 60 years: €237,391,000 of €30,000,000 (with no tax at all: €286,928,000) - Living costs, family of five: €260,650 a year - EU member: yes - Currency: CZK - Capital: Prague ## Tax on investments, inheritance and wealth Czechia exempts gains on securities held more than 3 years, and from 2026 without any annual cap, has no inheritance tax and exempts gifts from relatives, and has no wealth tax. Dividends cost a flat 15%. For a long-term buy-and-hold investor it is one of the most favourable regimes in the EU. - **Ordinary tax residence**: Progressive PIT 15%/23% with time-test exemptions for capital gains. ## Income tax Resident income tax is 15% up to CZK 1,762,812 (36x average monthly wage) and 23% above; no local income taxes. Employee share of insurance: 7.1% social (cap CZK 2,350,416 in 2026) and 4.5% health (no cap); the recorded rate is the combined 11.6% and the cap applies to the social part only. ## How to get residence EU citizens register for stays over three months. Czechia has no investor visa. Non-EU nationals can use a trade-licence (zivno) long-term business visa as a freelancer, a digital nomad long-term visa limited to listed nationalities (including the US and UK) and to IT, STEM and marketing workers earning 1.5 times the average salary, or an EU Blue Card (at least CZK 73,823 a month from 1 May 2026). - **EU/EEA free movement** (Free movement; EU citizens; open): EU citizens register for stays over three months; no permit. - **Digital nomad long-term visa (listed nationalities)** (Digital nomad; US citizens, other passports; open): Long-term visa for remote workers from listed countries, valid one year, followed by a two-year long-term residence permit. - **Zivno: long-term business visa on a trade licence** (Entrepreneur; US citizens, other passports; open): Long-term visa (D/VC/06) to work as a freelancer or run a business on a Czech trade licence, with clients anywhere. - **EU Blue Card (work)** (Work; US citizens, other passports; open): Employer-sponsored permit for degree-level jobs. Citizenship: Not confirmed by an official source in this research. From general knowledge: five years of permanent residence, Czech at B1 and a civic test; a 2026 amendment tightening clean-record requirements was under debate. ## Inheritance law and trusts Only descendants are protected, and only for a quarter (adults) or three quarters (minors) of their intestate share. A foreign resident can choose the law of their nationality (EU Succession Regulation art. 22). Czechia has a statutory trust fund; foundations are for public benefit only. ## Daily life (0-100, higher is better) - Safety and personal security: 80 - Political and institutional stability: 72 - Corruption and government integrity: 62 - Legal system and property rights: 73 - Healthcare quality and access: 79 - Education quality: 61 - Human development and quality of life: 83 - Infrastructure and connectivity: 76 - Cost of living and housing: 66 - Business opportunities and economy: 77 - Cultural fit and lifestyle: 53 ## Research notes ### Czech Republic — family-office tax dossier Last reviewed: 2026-10-16 Tax year: 2026 Reviewer: research agent (Claude), unreviewed by a tax adviser #### Summary Income Tax Act No. 586/1992 Coll. (ZDP). Gains on securities held more than 3 years are exempt, and from 2026 the exemption is uncapped for securities. Dividends: flat 15%. No inheritance tax; gifts from relatives exempt. No wealth tax. #### Residence and eligibility Resident with a permanent home in Czechia (owned or rented, intended for permanent living) or 183+ days in a calendar year (PwC). EU citizens: free movement and registration. US/other: residence permit for a purpose (business, employment, family); no investor-visa route found (not verified). #### Capital gains - No separate CGT: gains are "other income" (§10 ZDP), taxed at 15%, 23% above CZK 1,762,812 (36x the average monthly wage, 2026). - Exemptions (§4(1) ZDP): securities held > 3 years; stakes in companies not represented by a security (e.g. s.r.o.) held > 5 years; real estate held > 10 years if acquired from 2021 (5 years before; 2 years for a main residence); total securities proceeds up to CZK 100,000 a year. - Not available for securities held as business assets (or within 3 years after removal from them). - Cap: in 2025 exempt income from securities/stakes was capped at CZK 40m a year. From 1 January 2026 the cap applies only to crypto-assets (§4(3)) (law version effective 1.8.2026; PwC). The brief's "CZK 100m cap" was not found. - Letters in the 2026 text: §4(1)(t) exempts total securities proceeds up to CZK 100,000 a year; §4(1)(u) exempts a security held more than 3 years. The 3 years are shortened by the time the deceased held the security when a spouse or direct-line relative inherited it (§4(1)(u)), so children who inherit can sell at once tax-free. No cap applies to securities (the CZK 40m cap in §4(3) names only crypto-assets). - JSON: all long-term rates 0.0; `headline_rate = 0.23` (short-term gains at the top marginal rate). Re-verified 2026-10-15 in the consolidated law text (version 157, effective 1.8.2026): §4(1) exempts gains on a security held more than 3 years (5 years for a kmenový list); the CZK 40m cap of §4(3) now covers only crypto-assets (§4(1)(zk)). §38v requires exempt income above CZK 5m to be reported to the tax office. #### Dividends - Czech dividends: 15% final withholding. Foreign dividends: optional separate base at flat 15% (§8(8), §16a), foreign WHT credited up to the treaty rate; or the general base at 15%/23%. - Outbound WHT: 15% (EU/EEA/treaty or information-exchange states), 35% others (PwC). - JSON: `domestic_rate = foreign_gross_rate = 0.15`, `credit`. #### Inheritance and gifts to children - No inheritance tax; inherited assets exempt from income tax (§4a(a) ZDP) for any heir. - No gift tax; gifts are income but gifts from relatives in the direct and collateral line and spouses are exempt (§10(3)(c)(1) ZDP). - JSON: `basis = none`, `children_treatment = fully_exempt`, `brackets = []`. §38v reporting duty for exempt income above CZK 5m confirmed in the law text (2026-10-15). #### Wealth tax None (PwC). Annual real estate tax on property held at 1 January is a municipal property tax. No real estate transfer tax. #### Special regimes None. #### Holding structures No holding structure is scored for Czechia. Personally held listed securities are exempt after 3 years, uncapped from 2026. A Czech holding s.r.o. would instead pay: - 21% CIT on portfolio gains; - a 15% special rate on portfolio dividends, because the participation exemption needs at least 10% held 12 months (PwC Czech Republic, corporate income determination); - another 15% on distributions. It is worse than personal holding on every line, so the 3-year time test makes a company pointless for this family. Trust fund and family foundation (checked in the law text 2026-10-16, consolidated ZDP effective 1.8.2026): a trust fund (svěřenský fond, §17(1)(f)) and a family foundation (rodinná fundace, a nadace or nadační fond serving the founder or close persons, defined in §17a(2)(f), which excludes it from public-benefit status) are corporate income taxpayers at 21% (§21(1)). Distributions of their profit to an individual are capital income (§8(1)(i)) taxed at 15% (§36(2)(a)); property the founder put in can come back without tax (§10(3)(c)(3)-(4)). The 3-year exemption of §4(1)(u) is for individuals, and inheritance is already tax-free (§4a(a)), so neither vehicle can beat holding personally; they are used for control and asset protection, not tax. Not scored. The corporate treatment of share gains inside these vehicles (no participation exemption below a 10% stake) was read from PwC, not from the participation articles of the ZDP. #### Company taxation (kept separate from personal tax) 21% CIT for periods from 2024 (19% before). Participation exemption for qualifying dividends and share gains. #### Cost of living notes City: Prague. - Prime family-home rent (monthly): CZK 98,000 (2026). Median asking rent of 48 distinct houses/villas of 200-400 m² for rent in Prague's prime western and southern districts (Praha 6: Dejvice, Bubeneč, Střešovice, Nebušice, Vokovice, Veleslavín, Suchdol; Praha 5; Praha 4/Podolí/Braník), sampled from Sreality.cz on 15 Oct 2026 (range CZK 49,999-190,000; median of all 67 Prague listings in that size band CZK 85,000). Asking rents, utilities extra. Source: Pronájem domu od 200 m² do 400 m² Praha (listing search), https://www.sreality.cz/hledani/pronajem/domy/praha?plocha-od=200&plocha-do=400 - International school (annual, per child): CZK 831,000 (2026). International School of Prague, Grades 11-12, academic year 2026/27: tuition CZK 753,000 plus annual Capital Assessment Fee CZK 78,000. New students also pay a one-off Newcomers' Fee of CZK 52,000 and a CZK 9,000 application fee. Source: School Fees - Fees for the Academic Year 2026/27, https://www.isp.cz/admissions/school-fees Prime purchase price per m², family health insurance and housekeeper cost were not sourced in this round and are omitted rather than guessed. #### Open questions - The brief mentioned a CZK 100m annual cap introduced in 2025: not found. The law in force (version effective 1 Aug - 31 Dec 2026) shows the CZK 40m cap now only in §4(3) for crypto-assets; securities and company stakes are uncapped from 2026. - Notary probate fees not quantified; treated as negligible. - Any income tax changes announced by the government formed after the October 2025 election were not found in PwC (reviewed July 2026) or in the law version effective 1 Aug 2026. #### Sources - Zákon č. 586/1992 Sb., o daních z příjmů (consolidated, effective 1.8.2026): https://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/1992-586 - PwC, Czech Republic - Individual - Income determination: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/czech-republic/individual/income-determination - PwC, Czech Republic - Individual - Taxes on personal income: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/czech-republic/individual/taxes-on-personal-income - PwC, Czech Republic - Individual - Other taxes: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/czech-republic/individual/other-taxes - PwC, Czech Republic - Individual - Residence: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/czech-republic/individual/residence - PwC, Czech Republic - Corporate - Taxes on corporate income: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/czech-republic/corporate/taxes-on-corporate-income - Pronájem domu od 200 m² do 400 m² Praha (listing search): https://www.sreality.cz/hledani/pronajem/domy/praha?plocha-od=200&plocha-do=400 - School Fees - Fees for the Academic Year 2026/27: https://www.isp.cz/admissions/school-fees - [Czech Republic - Corporate - Income determination](https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/czech-republic/corporate/income-determination) — PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries (professional) #### Change log - 2026-10-15: initial research. - 2026-10-15: added Prague cost of living (Sreality.cz rent sample, ISP 2026/27 fees); confirmed in the law text the 3-year securities time test, the 2026 removal of the CZK 40m cap for securities (now crypto only) and the §38v CZK 5m reporting duty. - 2026-10-15: added a Holding structures section and a holding_company_notes sentence explaining why no holding structure is scored (3-year time test beats a company). - 2026-10-15: family rent re-checked against the upper-middle-class standard: kept. - 2026-10-16: no rate changed. Re-read the securities exemption (§4(1)(t)-(u), no cap on securities, heir inherits the deceased's holding time), §8(8)/§16a separate base, §38f credit and §36(2)(a); added the trust fund and family foundation analysis (21% CIT, 15% on distributions) to Holding structures and holding_company_notes; set the review date. ## Residence and succession sources - [Czech Republic digital nomad program introduced](https://www.fragomen.com/insights/czech-republic-digital-nomad-program-introduced.html) — Fragomen - [Czech Republic - Individual - Residence](https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/czech-republic/individual/residence) — PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries - [Czech Republic Zivno visa: step-by-step freelancer guide (2026)](https://nomadtaxguide.com/blog/czech-republic-zivno-visa-freelancer/) — Nomad Tax Guide - [Czech Republic zivno visa guide for freelancers](https://www.borderpilot.com/blog/czech-republic-zivno-visa-guide-for-freelancers) — BorderPilot - [Czech tax advisory alert on Blue Card threshold from 1 May 2026](https://danovky.cz/en/news/detail/1833) — Danovky.cz - [Czech Republic to raise salary thresholds for Blue Card and ICT permits in 2026](https://eiglaw.com/czech-republic-to-raise-salary-thresholds-for-blue-card-and-ict-permits-in-2026/) — EIG Law - [European e-Justice: Succession, Czechia](https://e-justice.europa.eu/166/EN/succession?CZECHIA&member=1) — European e-Justice Portal - [Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 on succession](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/650/oj) — European Union - [HCCH status table: Convention of 1 July 1985 on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition](https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=59) — Hague Conference on Private International Law