Social security (sociální pojištění) is paid by every trade license holder, whatever their nationality. It goes to the Czech Social Security Administration (ČSSZ) and builds your Czech pension. You pay monthly advances, and once a year an overview (přehled) settles the real amount.
Monthly advances
When the trade license is your main activity, you pay at least the minimum advance every month:
- 2026: 5,005 CZK a month from July. Until June it was 5,720 CZK; the difference for January to June is settled in your overview for 2026, or refunded on request.
- 2027: 5,281 CZK a month.
Above the minimum, the advance depends on last year's profit: 29.2% of 55% of your profit. With the 60/40 method that is about 6.4% of your revenue. Each advance is due within the month it is for, so the January advance by 31 January. Always pay with the variable symbol you were given: see bank accounts for tax, social and health.
When you start
- No advances at first: if you were not self-employed in the previous 5 years, you do not have to pay advances in your starting year, until your first overview is filed the year after. The full amount for that first year is then due in one go, so many clients pay voluntarily from the start. This does not apply with the flat-tax method: the monthly flat-tax payment is due from your very first month.
- Lower minimum for 3 years: if you were not self-employed in the previous 20 years, the minimum is 3,575 CZK a month in your starting year and the two years after, as long as the trade license is your main activity.
Next to a job or studies
If you are also employed (or paid as a company director), a student under 26, on parental leave or receiving an old-age or disability pension, your trade license is a secondary activity. For students this means study that counts as preparation for a profession (soustavná příprava na budoucí povolání); it ends on your 26th birthday at the latest. Then you only pay social security if your profit for the year is above 117,521 CZK (2026). If it is, you pay for that year when you file the overview, and monthly advances of at least 1,574 CZK from the month after.
Sickness insurance
The social security advance does not cover sick pay. For that you need sickness insurance (nemocenské pojištění), which is voluntary: you register for it yourself, and we do not register you automatically. It costs at least 243 CZK a month (2.7% of an amount you choose, at least 9,000 CZK).
- Different payment details: it goes to a different ČSSZ account, with your rodné číslo as the variable symbol.
- What it pays: a modest sick pay from the 15th day of illness. For maternity benefits you must have paid it for at least 270 days in the two years before, and you may not invoice through your trade license while you receive them.
For many clients the payout is so small that it is not worth it. Maternity and parental benefits come with many conditions and strict deadlines; check your own case with ČSSZ well in advance.
Once a year: the overview
After your tax return, the overview for ČSSZ calculates what you really owe for last year. If your advances were too low, the difference is due within 8 days of filing, and that can be tens of thousands of CZK. The overview also sets your new monthly advance. We prepare and file it together with your tax return.
With the flat-tax method, social security is part of your one monthly payment and there is no overview: see 60/40, real expenses or flat tax.
Official information (in Czech): ČSSZ: OSVČ v kostce · ČSSZ: sickness insurance for the self-employed
