Self-employed furious! Even though they are not obliged to pay TV and radio fees, they face a nonsensical fine. Fortunately, the fix is easy

From May 2025, new conditions for paying concessionary fees apply. In addition to the price increase for both the television and radio fee, another change has occurred that will affect entrepreneurs. The method of calculating the payment amount based on the number of employees is changing. However, the changes also include another new feature that many have underestimated. You need to register for payment, even if you don’t have to pay anything. The deadline is only until the end of this month.

It would seem that it’s clear. I am self-employed and have no employees, so I don’t deal with fees. But it’s not that simple. Even if you have no employees, even if you only have an IČO for a secondary work activity, you must register for payment. You enter the number of employees as 0 and you will get 0 Kč to pay. But it must be reported.

Explanation of terms

OSVČ is an abbreviation for «osoba samostatně výdělečně činná» (self-employed person). It means that a person works «for themselves» – typically this refers to tradesmen, freelancers, or small business owners.

IČO is the «identifikační číslo osoby» (identification number of a person). It is a unique number used to identify entrepreneurs (including self-employed individuals) and companies in various registers and documents – similar to a birth number for individuals.

Concessionary fee is a monthly payment for Czech Television and Radio. It is paid by every household and entrepreneurs who have, for example, a television, mobile phone, or computer with internet.

How to register

Probably the easiest way is to create a new account on the websites of Czech Television and Czech Radio. You simply enter your email address, to which a confirmation link will be sent. You click on it and complete the registration. After entering my IČO, Czech Television pre-filled all the details for me; I just entered the number of employees. For Czech Radio, I had to fill everything in manually, but fortunately, it’s just contact details and again, the number of employees.

With this simple registration, legal obligations are met, and if your company does not exceed 24 employees, you no longer need to worry about anything.

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Fees based on the number of employees

For entrepreneurs, the fee amount is calculated as a multiple of the fee based on the number of employees. So, it’s not paid per employee; on the other hand, an entrepreneur who hires, for example, the hundredth employee will double their fees.

Fines

Reporting is important. If you do not fulfill the obligation given by law, you expose yourself to the risk of a fine of 10,000 Kč for Czech Television and 5,000 Kč for Czech Radio. Although some interpretations of the law question the necessity of reporting if you do not have to pay, most lawyers, according to an article on the Podnikatel server, agree on a stricter interpretation.

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Have you reported paying the fees?

Source: ČT, Rozhlas, Podnikatel