Added 14 Oct 2026, 7-minute read

Employee or freelancer in Czechia? How to work out what to invoice

“The position is available as an employee (HPP) or freelancer (IČO).” Job ads like this are common in some fields, especially IT. As a freelancer you usually get more money, but you lose things you take for granted as an employee. Here is how to work it out and what to consider.

Why freelancing can pay more

An employee costs the company more than their gross salary. On top of that, the company pays 24.8% social and 9% health insurance. A gross salary of CZK 50,000 costs the company about CZK 66,900 a month. If you work as a freelancer, the company does not pay these contributions, so it can pay you more.

As a freelancer, however, you pay insurance and tax yourself. And above all: nobody pays you for holiday, public holidays or days when you are sick.

How to work out what to invoice

1. Find out your take-home pay as an employee. Use the net salary calculator.
2. Add what you pay yourself as a freelancer: insurance and tax. The simplest option is the flat-rate tax (paušální daň), in 2026 CZK 9,162 a month in band 1. It covers tax and both types of insurance.
3. Account for unpaid days. As a freelancer you get nothing for holiday and sick days. With 25 days of holiday and 5 sick days you invoice about 220 days a year, not 250.

The employee or freelancer calculator does all of this for you.

Quick estimate

As a rule of thumb: your daily rate as a freelancer should be at least the gross monthly salary divided by 18 to 21. For lower salaries divide by about 18, for higher ones by 21. At CZK 50,000 that means at least roughly CZK 2,600–2,800 a day. Less does not pay off, because you lose security and get nothing for it. The calculator gives you the exact number.

What you lose as a freelancer

• Paid holiday and public holidays.
• Sick pay. Nothing from the company, and from the state only if you pay voluntary sickness insurance, and only from day 15 of illness.
• Notice period and severance pay. The company can end the cooperation according to the contract, often immediately.
• Part of your pension. With the flat-rate tax or flat-rate expenses you pay less into the pension system, and your future pension will be lower.
• Unemployment benefit at a lower level, because it is based on what you paid in.
• Security with banks. For a mortgage, banks usually want to see at least a year of self-employment.

If you work in a trade

As a self-employed tiler, bricklayer, plumber or electrician, some things are easier and some harder:

• Lower tax and contributions. Craft trades can deduct 80% of income as flat-rate expenses, IT and most services only 60%. At lower incomes, flat-rate expenses are often cheaper for tradespeople than the flat-rate tax. The calculator works out both.
• Actual costs. Tools, a vehicle, fuel, liability insurance. Add them to the rate the calculator shows. Materials are usually charged to the customer separately.
• Price per square metre or per job. Convert it to a day so you can compare it with an employment offer. If you tile, say, 10 m² a day at CZK 300, you earn CZK 3,000 a day, so compare that with the daily rate from the calculator.
• Days without income. Besides holiday and illness, count days without a job, waiting for materials or travelling to customers. You can add them to sick days in the calculator.
• Responsibility for your work. You are directly responsible to the customer for defects in your work, and complaints take up your time.

When freelancing makes sense

• You have a higher income, so the difference in contributions is significant.
• You work for several clients or on projects and want to manage your own time.
• You have savings for months without work and for illness.

At lower incomes the advantage often disappears: the minimum contributions are fixed and losing security hurts a household budget more.

Where the legal line is

Czech law does not forbid freelancing for a single company. The problem is so-called dependent work: the company, as your superior, sets your tasks and working hours, and you work in its name, personally and with its equipment. That should be an employment contract, and invoicing instead is known as “švarcsystém”. Under the Employment Act, penalties can apply to both the company and the person working this way.

In practice, some fields operate in a grey zone. The risk is lower when you work on a specific project or for results, use your own equipment, decide when you work, and ideally have several clients. For your specific situation, ask a lawyer or the labour inspectorate, whose advice is free.