Czech Republic merges its 10% and 15% VAT rates into a single 12% reduced rate from 2024
This page records one dated change. For the rules in Czech Republic as they stand today, see the Czech Republic guide →
- Jurisdiction
- Czech Republic
- Tax
- VAT
- Change type
- Rate change
- Status
- In force
- Impact
- FYI
- Announced
- 12 December 2023
- Effective
- 1 January 2024
- Instrument
- CZ-ACT-349-2023-Sb
- Authority
- Generální finanční ředitelství (General Financial Directorate), Czech Republic
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Czech VAT payers supplying goods or services previously taxed at the 10% or 15% reduced rates.
No action — historical reference. The two former reduced rates (10% and 15%) were merged into a single 12% reduced rate from 1 January 2024.
Zakon c. 349/2023 Sb. (konsolidacni balicek), published in the Sbirka zakonu on 12 December 2023 and effective 1 January 2024, abolished the second (10%) reduced VAT rate; from 1 January 2024, the Czech VAT Act provides a single reduced rate of 12% (consolidated from the former 10% and 15% reduced rates), alongside the unchanged 21% standard rate.
What changed in detail
Act No. 349/2023 Sb., the public-finance consolidation package (konsolidační balíček), was published in the Sbírka zákonů on 12 December 2023. From 1 January 2024 it restructured the Czech VAT rates:
- The 21% standard rate is unchanged.
- The second reduced rate of 10% is abolished.
- The first reduced rate of 15% is replaced by a single reduced rate of 12%.
The General Financial Directorate (GFŘ) set out the change in its Information on VAT rate changes from 1 January 2024 (Č. j. 916/24/7100-30116-050822). The Act repealed Annexes 2a and 3a of the VAT Act (No. 235/2004 Sb.), which listed the services and goods at the second reduced rate. From 1 January 2024, supplies at the reduced rate are listed only in Annex 2 (services) and Annex 3 (goods).
The GFŘ notes that some items also moved between rates, or changed in scope because a code’s wording changed. The reform was not a plain renumbering of the old lists. Books moved out of the rate system altogether: see the § 71i exemption with the right to deduct.
What it means
The 21% and 12% structure is still the Czech rate structure. What has changed since is the content of the 12% lists. The sales-records act (Sněmovní tisk 189) extends the reduced rate to serving all non-alcoholic drinks in catering from 1 January 2027. A government bill would move kratom from 12% to 21%. Check an item against the current Annex 2 or 3 rather than the 2024 lists.
Proof
Základní sazba daně zůstává i nadále ve výši 21 %. Ruší se druhá snížená sazba daně ve výši 10 % a namísto první snížené sazby daně ve výši 15 % se zavádí pouze jedna snížená sazba daně ve výši 12 %.The standard rate remains 21%. The second reduced rate of 10% is abolished, and instead of the first reduced rate of 15% a single reduced rate of 12% is introduced.
Source snapshot of the official page. Open full size ↗Archived from the official distribution · Informace GFŘ ke změnám sazeb DPH od 1. 1. 2024, Č. j. 916/24/7100-30116-050822 (Generální finanční ředitelství) · financnisprava.gov.cz