Czech Trade License Requirements

What do you need to get a Czech trade license?

For most freelancers, the requirements are quite straightforward. You need to meet the general conditions for operating a trade, have a registered business address and provide the documents required for your situation.

If you are registering a free trade, you do not need to prove professional qualifications. Craft, regulated/tied and concession trades have additional requirements.

For foreigners, the requirements also depend on citizenship and residence status. Czech citizens, EU/EEA/Swiss citizens and non-EU citizens do not all follow exactly the same document procedure. 

 What are the basic requirements for a Czech trade license?

The Trade Licensing Act sets two general conditions:

• full legal capacity (plná svéprávnost);

• Clean criminal record (bezúhonnost).

Then there are requirements connected to the trade itself. A free trade does not require professional competence. Craft and regulated/tied trades do. Concession trades have their own statutory requirements. 

Do you have to be 18?

The legal requirement is full legal capacity, rather than simply an age requirement.

For the normal adult applicant, this is straightforward. But the Trade Licensing Act also provides a route for a minor: the full-legal-capacity condition can be replaced by court approval of the legal representative’s consent to the minor independently operating the business.

What does Clean criminal record mean?

The Czech term is bezúhonnost.

A criminal conviction does not automatically prevent someone from getting a Czech trade license.

The Trade Licensing Act looks at whether the person has been finally convicted of an intentional criminal offence connected with business or with the business activity they are applying to perform, subject to the rules on when a person is treated as not having been convicted.

Do you need a criminal record certificate?

This depends on your citizenship and residence status.

Czech citizens do not need to obtain their Czech Criminal Record extract themselves. The Trade License Office obtains it directly from the Czech Criminal Register.

Foreigners with permanent residence in the Czech Republic are treated in the same way as Czech citizens for this requirement.

The Trade License Office obtains their Czech Criminal Record extract directly, so they do not need to provide a criminal record certificate from their country of citizenship. For other foreign applicants, the requirements are different.

Yes.

To register a Czech trade license, you need a registered business address in the Czech Republic. This does not mean that you need to rent an office.

You can use your home address or another address where you have permission to register your business. If the property is not yours, you normally need consent from the property owner.

You can also use a separate business-address service with contact agent support services.

Is a rental agreement enough?

In Pexpats cases where property-owner consent is required, a rental agreement is not used as a replacement for Business Address Consent.

The property owner provides a separately signed consent allowing the address to be registered for business purposes.

Pexpats uses the same principle when working with third-party business-address providers: the required original consent is obtained from the provider/property owner.

Do you need professional qualifications?

For a free trade, no.

This is why many freelancers can register without providing a university degree, professional certificate or proof of previous work experience.

Qualifications become important when the activity belongs to a craft, regulated/tied or concession trade.

Czech government guidance confirms that free trade has no professional-competence requirement, while the other categories have additional conditions.  

For example, someone registering ordinary IT, marketing or general consulting activities under the relevant free-trade fields does not need to prove a university degree simply to become self-employed.

Do EU citizens need Temporary Residency?

No.

EU citizens do not need Czech Temporary Residency or an EU Registration Certificate to register a Czech trade license.

Pexpats also registers trade licenses for EU citizens who do not have an EU Registration Certificate.

What about non-EU citizens?

Non-EU citizens can also register a Czech trade license, but their residence status is important.

The requirements are different from those for EU/EEA/Swiss citizens. The type of Czech visa or residence permit you have affects which documents you need and how the registration is completed. 

Do you need Czech permanent residence?

No.

You do not need Czech permanent residence to get a Czech trade license.

Both EU and non-EU foreigners can register a Czech trade license without permanent residence, provided they meet the requirements that apply to their citizenship and residence status.  

Permanent residence can change which documents you need. For example, it affects how your criminal record is checked.

Do you need to be a Czech tax resident?

No.

You can have a Czech trade license without being a Czech tax resident. Pexpats works with clients who operate Czech trade licenses while being Czech non-tax residents.

Your trade license gives you the right to carry out your registered business activities. Tax residency determines which country treats you as a tax resident and  how your income is taxed.

They are separate.

Do you have to be in the Czech Republic to register?

No, if someone registers the trade on your behalf under a Power of Attorney.

Pexpats completes trade license registrations remotely.

You fill in the registration form, sign the Power of Attorney online and provide the required documents.

Pexpats then completes the registration on your behalf.

Pexpats can also start the registration before you move to the Czech Republic and prepare the trade license with a future business start date.

Do you need a Czech bank account?

No.

You do not need a Czech bank account to register a Czech trade license.

Pexpats clients also use accounts such as Wise and Revolut for their business.

What documents do you actually need?

The exact documents depend on your citizenship, residence status, business address and type of trade.

For a standard Pexpats remote registration, we normally start with:

• passport or ID scan;

• completed online registration form;

• electronically signed Power of Attorney;

• business-address documents;

• visa or residence documents where required;

• proof of qualifications if your type of trade requires them.

The exact checklist is different for different applicants.

Frequently Asked Questions