Czech self-employed: how to pay for health and social insurance?

As a sole trader, you have to ensure that you pay your levies properly yourself. However, it's easy to get lost in the flood of regulations - so we've prepared an overview of the basic obligations and current amounts for 2025.

Compulsory levies in a nutshell

All sole traders are obliged to pay not only taxes, but also health and often social insurance. In addition, every entrepreneur (with the exception of those in the flat-rate tax regime) has to report their income and expenses to their health insurance company and the Czech Social Security Administration (ČSSZ) once a year.

The rules differ, among other things, depending on whether you are running a main or a secondary business. How to know?

• If your business is your only/dominant source of income, it is usually your main activity.
• If you run a business while you are studying, working, on parental leave or retired, your activity is usually considered secondary.

Let's now look at how levies work in practice.

Health insurance

Health insurance is paid by every entrepreneur (self-employed for both main and secondary activities). The type of activity determines the principles for calculating the insurance premiums.

Main activity

If you are a main activity business, you pay at least the minimum amount each month (see the table below).

Secondary activity

In the case of secondary activities, you are not subject to the minimum advance payments - the premium is always calculated according to your actual income. If you are self-employed, you don't pay monthly advances at all and you always pay your insurance premiums once a year after submitting your income and expenditure statement.

If you run a business as a state insured person (while studying, on maternity leave or retired), you also do not pay monthly advances in the first year of your business and you pay the insurance premiums for the whole year retrospectively when you file your income tax return. For the next period, the insurance company will set monthly advances, which it will calculate on the basis of your statement. For details, see the instructions for  self-employed workers in a secondary activity.

Calculation of insurance premiums

Self-employed persons are required to pay 13.5% of the assessment base to their health insurance company. The assessment base for the self-employed person's health insurance premium is calculated as 50% of the tax base. The tax base, or more precisely the partial tax base for self-employment income, is the difference between your business income and the related expenses.

The law also determines the minimum amount of the assessment base (based on the average wage and changing every year). The minimum amount of the mandatory monthly contributions is based on this. Entrepreneurs must pay at least this minimum for their main activity, even if the formula gives them a lower amount.

Health insurance premiums for self-employed persons

When to pay health insurance deposits?

Advances on premiums are due from the 1st of the month for which you pay the premium until the 8th of the following month.

Example.

If you pay the minimum health insurance premium, you must always pay the new amount for the following year right from the start of the new year (i.e. by 8 February for January) - remember to change your standing order in time. Do the same if you are currently making calculated contributions below the minimum for 2025.

Social insurance

The rules for social insurance are a little more complicated. They are governed by several pieces of legislation, in particular the Social Security Contributions Act and the Pension and Sickness Insurance Acts. So how does social insurance for self-employed workers work?

While the pension insurance and the state employment policy contribution are compulsory, the sickness insurance is paid voluntarily by the self-employed.

Other rules for paying social insurance depend on whether you are in a main or secondary occupation and on the amount of your income.

Main activity

If you have a main occupation, you have to pay social security regardless of how much you earn. You will also pay at least the minimum amount to the Social Insurance Institution each month (see the table below).

Secondary activity

For secondary activities, you are only subject to compulsory social security contributions if your gross annual profit (the difference between income and expenditure from the business) exceeds a threshold amount - for 2024 the threshold was CZK 105,521, in 2025 it is CZK 111,736. If you earn below this limit, you do not have to pay social insurance (but you can opt in voluntarily).

If you pay insurance for your secondary activity, you are also subject to the minimum monthly advance payments, but at a reduced rate compared to sole traders for their main activity (see overview table).

Calculation of insurance premiums

Social insurance for self-employed persons is calculated as a percentage of the assessment base. Similar to health insurance, this is 55% of the tax base (i.e. the difference between the annual income from the business and the related expenses). Again, the law specifies a minimum assessment base based on the average wage.

You calculate the annual insurance premium as 29.2% of the assessment base, with 28% going to pension insurance and 1.2% to state employment policy.

If you also voluntarily pay sickness insurance for the self-employed, you will pay an extra 2.7% of the assessment base (until 2024, the rate was 2.1%).

Social insurance premiums for self-employed persons

* Starting in 2025, self-employed persons will now pay reduced social insurance contributions. This relief applies in the first three years of business (year of start-up + next two years).

Note: The government's consolidation package has changed the method of calculating the minimum assessment base from 2024, therefore the amount of minimum advances has increased significantly.

When to pay social security contributions?

You should always pay your pension and sickness insurance contributions by the end of the month for which you are paying.

Example.

What about the next period? From January onwards, you must always pay at least the minimum social security contribution for the year.

• So if you are making the minimum advance payments in 2024, adjust your standing order to the new minimum from January 2025 as shown in the summary table above.
• Do the same if you are now making calculated contributions below the minimum for 2025.
• However, if you are making calculated advances above the 2025 minimum, continue making payments and start paying the new calculated amount from the month you submit your income and expenditure statement for the previous year (i.e. if you submit the statement in May, you pay the new amount from May).

Income and Expenditure Report

Every entrepreneur who does not use the flat-rate tax regime must submit a statement of income and expenses after the end of the tax year. This is done twice - once for the health insurance company and once for ČSSZ.

The income and expenditure statement is basically an annual statement of accounts with the insurance company and the CSSA, where you calculate how much you have paid in advances during the year and how much, if any, you need to repay according to your income. The calculation also tells you how much you will pay in advance in the following year - you must pay at least the minimum for that year.

Example. He uses a 60% flat-rate spending and earned CZK 1.5 million in 2024. In his summary, he has calculated that, with this income, the annual premium comes to CZK 40 500. He has therefore incurred an underpayment of CZK 4 884 in health insurance.

He files his tax return electronically with a deadline of 2 May 2025. He submits it on 30 April, so he sends the statement to the insurance company by 30 May and pays the arrears within 8 days of filing.

Flat-rate tax deductions

Sole traders can also voluntarily enter the flat tax scheme. This combines compulsory levies and income tax payments - so the entrepreneur pays a flat amount per month according to his tax bracket. If you comply with the conditions of the flat-rate scheme throughout the year, you do not have to file tax returns or reports.

Although flat-rate tax means less administration, it is not always more cost-effective than standard levies. See our article on flat-rate tax for details.

We will sort out the administration for you.

Do all the rules, amounts and percentages make your head spin? You're not alone. We'll be happy to help you with your tax and levies and prepare your tax return for you, including the required reports. Leave us a message in the form below to discuss the details.

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