Setting up a data box for a self-employed person

The long-discussed establishment of data boxes for all self-employed persons has already begun. The government has partially relaxed the original proposal for the establishment of data boxes, but self-employed persons have to get used to the new online tool for communication with the authorities.

What is a data box?

A data box is an online tool designed to:

• Online communication with public authorities,
• submitting documents and applications (e.g. tax return, application for parental allowance, application for housing allowance, criminal record, driver's points, etc.) to the authorities (tax office, Social Security, health insurance, labour office, municipal authorities),
• Online communication with legal entities from the private sector (for example, a child's excuse to school can be sent).

Its aim is more effective digital communication with state institutions, authorities and the private sector.

For a self-employed person it means the end of bureaucracy and going to the offices, everything can be solved online from the comfort of home or office.

Until now, the data box has been mandatory for state administration bodies and legal entities registered in the Commercial Register. It could be set up voluntarily for natural persons and also for business persons. The government approved at the beginning of November that for non-business individuals who have used electronic login to communicate with the authorities via a bank identity or a citizen portal, data boxes will not be obligatorily established by law.

We want to convince ordinary citizens that having a data box is worthwhile, but we do not want to force anything on them. We certainly don't want to burden them with new obligations now that they have other things to worry about in the light of the crisis in Europe,

explains the Minister of the Interior Vít Rakušan. That is why the ministry is proposing a return to the current regulation, according to which a data box is set up for a natural person exclusively at his or her request. This can be done simply and electronically. Citizens can deactivate their data box, but this requires an activity that can be considered too difficult at present.

As of 2023, a data box is legally created for all entities listed in the register of persons, i.e.:

1. legal entities (which have not yet had a data box established, e.g. foundations, associations, local self-government units, non-profit organizations, associations of unit owners),
2. entrepreneurs (self-employed persons).

Who is not legally entitled to a data box?

Example:

Adam is a teacher. He likes IT technology and knows how to use it, so he has signed up for a COVID vaccination through his NIA ID. Will his data box be set up by law?

Answer:

No, Adam is not a sole trader. If he wants a data box, one can be set up for him on his request.

Example:

Mary is on parental leave and does not have a business. She arranged her parental allowance through her bank identity. Will her data box be set up by law?

Answer:

No, Marie is not a natural person in business. Although she has logged into the government system electronically, she will not be legally granted a data box by government decision.

The bogeyman called data box - step by step procedure for setting up and logging in

The state starts to set up data boxes for self-employed persons and legal entities in stages, in the term from 1  1. 2023 to 31  3. 2023. During this period, the Ministry of the Interior will send out a letter to  own hands with login data to the data box. If the self-employed person does not collect this letter within 15 days, the data box will be activated automatically.

Setting up and using the data box is free of charge (if it is used to communicate with authorities, e.g. to communicate with the Financial Administration, the health insurance company, the Czech Social Security Administration, the municipality or other authorities). The self-employed person will not pay a single crown for the establishment.

Example No. 1:

Jane applied for suspension of her trade after 5 years of business, because she started to work as a main employee. She plans to return to the business in the future. Will Jana be provided with a data box?

<Answer:

Data boxes will be set up for all self-employed persons who are registered in the trade register. Since Jana has a suspended trade and is therefore still registered in the Trade Register, a data box will be set up for her by law. A data box cannot be cancelled at the request of a self-employed person. The only possibility of cancelling the data box is the termination of the business or the cancellation of the trade (the data box will be cancelled after 3 years from the expiry of the deletion from the trade register).

Example No. 2:

Jan's friend Dana closed her business in 2018 (after five years in business). She has no plans to return to the business. Will Dana be provided with a data box?

Answer:

No, Dana will not be set up with a data box as her business has been dissolved and removed from the trade register.

The data box will also be set up for self-employed persons who own a data box as a natural person. This way they will have two data boxes. All official messages from the authorities will go to the so-called business data box.

In case the self-employed person already has a business data box, the state will not set up another one.

Options for logging into the data box

Once you have received the login data, you must log in to the data box via the Data Box application. For the first login, please use the received login data (login name and password) from the letter in your own hands.

You can then add another login method (to increase the security of the data box), such as logging in with:

• the identity of the citizen,
• a mobile key,
• a text message code,
• a security code,
• a certificate.

Benefits of the data box

• Faster communication with state institutions and authorities,
• immediate dispatch of the documents without going to the public office,
• receiving documents anywhere with internet access,
• saving money on postage,
• handling correspondence from home,
• time saving - everything can be handled online:
• no need to go to the public office,
• 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without waiting,
• proof of delivery.

Disadvantages of the data box

There is no charge for the first password reset if you forget your login credentials. Every subsequent password renewal will be charged a fee of 200 CZK. For security reasons, possible blocking of the mailbox or repeated forgetting of the password (associated with a fee for password recovery), it is recommended to change the password every 90 days. You can get around this by setting the unlimited validity of the data box password in the „Settings "section.

The fee for sending a message except to government authorities is charged according to price list of the Česká pošta a. s.

A message or document is automatically considered delivered 10 days after it is sent (even if the addressee has not read it).

Paper tax returns and reports are a thing of the past

Self-employed taxpayers are required to file their tax returns electronically from 1 January 2023. If filing on paper, the self-employed person will be instructed by the Tax Administration to file electronically. If the electronic filing does not take place, the Tax Administration may impose a fine of CZK 1,000 on the self-employed person.

Furthermore, the paper tax return of a self-employed person is considered not filed. This will result in further sanctions in the form of penalties for each day of delay. In addition, the self-employed person will not be paid the overpayment (if any) or other tax credits such as the child tax bonus.

How to file a tax return?

Electronic returns can be filed in the following ways:

• via data box,
• via the mojedane.cz portal - EPO using the citizen's ID.

I have set up two data boxes, as a natural person doing business and one as a non-business person. Which one should I use to file my tax return?

If a natural person sends a tax return to the tax office from his/her data box, it is completely irrelevant which specific type of data box it is (i.e. whether it is the data box of a natural person-non-business or natural person-business). This means that the taxpayer can send the return from his/her non-entrepreneur data box.

It is possible to submit not only the tax return via the data box but also all electronic documents intended for the Financial Office, e.g.:

• tax returns for natural persons,
• tax returns for legal entities,
• road tax returns,
• VAT returns,
• property tax returns,
• registration/de-registration forms (e.g. personal or corporate income tax registration, employers' register registration, VAT registration),
• VAT registration,
• VAT registration of an identified person.

We have prepared tax returns and reports for you to send by datacard for the year 2022. After filling in the form, you will get an XML file that you just need to send. To process prior years' returns, click here.

Health Insurance Company

The health insurance companies offer a so-called E-communication through which reports can also be filed. Thus, a self-employed person does not necessarily need a data box to file reports. You can also file a report via the health insurance company's portal.

Nevertheless, the self-employed person can use the data box to:

• receive from the health insurance company a statement of health insurance deposits for the self-employed person,
• receive a summary of payments and penalties from the health insurance company,
• send a statement of income and expenses to the health insurance company.

Czech Social Security Administration

Since last year, the Social Insurance Institution has no longer sent the settlement of social insurance advances to self-employed persons, thus slowly preparing the self-employed persons for the upcoming digitalization. The overview can therefore be submitted to ČSSZ in the following ways:

• via an interactive form from the ePortal of the CSSA, send the form in xml format directly to the relevant OSSZ/CSSZ via the so-called direct channel (button "Send via ePortal"), either via the public interface for e-submission (VREP/APEP) if you have a recognised electronic signature, or via a data box if you are a data box holder,
• the summary in a readable format (e.g. PDF) can also be delivered to the e-filing office or to the data box of the relevant Social Security Office (OSSZ) if you have an electronic signature or are a data box holder,
• fill in the interactive form from the ČSSZ ePortal using a computer, then print it out and deliver it to the relevant Social Security Office (OSSZ),
• deliver the completed paper form to the relevant Social Security Office (OSSZ) - the relevant form is available at these offices.

In addition to the summary, all documents that have an electronic form can also be sent to the Czech Social Security Administration by data mailbox, namely:

• application for the pension insurance information sheet,
• confirmation of temporary incapacity for work,
• confirmation of the type and amount of sickness insurance benefits paid,
• pension/voluntary sickness insurance applications/receipts for self-employed persons,
• application for maternity allowance.

Cancellation of the data box for self-employed persons

If a self-employed person ceases business activity, the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic will cancel his/her data box upon expiry of 3 years from the date of deletion from the Trade Register. What does this mean?

If a self-employed person cancels his trade in 2023, he is obliged to file his reports and tax returns electronically the following year (2024), even if he no longer carries out the trade. In the following years he no longer has to file electronically.