Real Estate tax 2026

May is approaching, and with it the deadline for paying real estate tax. Returns for this year should have been filed by 31 January, but the payment falls until May or June. The tax must be paid by anyone who owns a property, regardless of whether they changed anything last year. Under the circumstances stipulated by law, a tenant or user can also become a taxpayer. If your annual tax is less than CZK 5,000, you will pay it in one lump sum by June 2, as the last day of May falls on a Saturday. For higher amounts, the tax is paid in two instalments – the first by 2 June 2025, the second by 1 December 2025.

The tax return must be filed no later than Monday, February 2, 2026. The obligation applies to all taxpayers who bought, sold, completed, approved, added or changed the way of using real estate during 2025.

If you did not acquire any new properties in 2024 or adjust the parameters of the existing ones, you did not have to file your tax return again – just wait for the money order or message received via the data box.

But be careful – if there has been a change, such as acquisition, sale, extension, extension, change in the type or area of the land, change in the number of above-ground floors or, for example, revision of data in the Land Registry – in this case, you should have filed the return by the end of January 2025. And if you haven't, we recommend rectifying the situation as soon as possible.

This year, an amendment to the Real Estate Tax Act came into force, which brings several important innovations. In the case of land tax, the subject of tax on forest land is newly expanded. Only the part of the land on which there is a protective forest or a forest for special purposes is now outside the subject of taxation. The methodology for calculating the tax base for taxable forest land has also been modified, which is now determined as the product of the actual area of the land and the amount of CZK 3.80.

Changes in the area of tax exemptions

The year 2026 also brings partial changes in the area of real estate tax exemption.
Cases where it is possible not to pay the tax at all or to pay it only partially are expanding.

Typically, these are:

• land with ecologically important landscape elements (e.g. draws, pools or other natural elements), Beware also of so-called paved areas. If you run a business and use part of your land – for example, arable land – as a paved area (for storing or parking equipment, etc.), it is necessary to declare this part and tax it separately at a higher rate.
• buildings or housing units inhabited by persons in material need, where a partial or full exemption can be applied.

These changes do not have an across-the-board impact on all taxpayers, but they can be fundamental for specific groups of owners and require a correct assessment in practice.

When does the obligation to file

Restrictive conditions are set for the recognition of the right to exemption in the case of taxable railway and railway constructions, airways, waterways and ports used in accordance with the occupancy permit for public transport. The exemption applies only to the part that is used for public transport.

One often overlooked change (already valid for 2024) concerns garages. If you own a building that is registered as a garage in the Land Registry, make sure you state it correctly in your tax return – i.e. under type "L" (garage). It does not only depend on how you use the garage, but also on how it is officially registered in the land registry. A discrepancy may lead to an incorrect tax rate or a possible additional assessment by the tax office.

Real estate tax will not increase across the board in 2026. Nevertheless, its amount can vary significantly between individual municipalities. The decisive role is played by local coefficients, which municipalities set either across the board or only for selected types of real estate.

The amount of tax is decided by municipalities, not inflation

For 2026, the state has left the inflation coefficient at 1, so there is no automatic across-the-board tax increase. However, this does not mean that property owners will pay the same tax as in the previous year.

Municipalities have the option of increasing or decreasing the tax through local coefficients. These can be applied either to the entire territory of the municipality or specifically only to specific segments – for example, apartments, recreational facilities or real estate used for business.

Therefore, significant, sometimes even leapfrog changes appear in practice. Somewhere as a result of the newly approved coefficients, elsewhere after the end of the transitional periods, when the municipality introduces a new setting for its entire territory.

Pelhřimov: correction of an administrative error

A specific example is the city of Pelhřimov, where the change in the amount of tax is not related to a political decision to increase it, but to the correction of an earlier administrative error. In the past, there was an unintentional increase in the local coefficient for apartments from 1.0 to 1.5, although the goal was not to burden apartment owners more.

For 2026, the councillors therefore reduced the local coefficient for apartments to 0.5, and only temporarily, for one year only. From 2027, the coefficient should return to 1.0. As a result, apartment owners in Pelhřimov will pay significantly less tax in 2026 than would correspond to the original setting.

Local coefficient as the main tool of municipalities

The local coefficient is the basic tool by which municipalities influence the amount of real estate tax. Its value can range from 0.5 to 5.0. If the coefficient is set below 1.0 (up to the lower limit of 0.5), it means a reduction in tax compared to the previous year.

Where the tax is falling and where it is rising

In addition to Pelhřimov, other municipalities with different approaches to tax settings are also worth paying attention to.

For example, Rokycany will apply the previously approved increase in the local coefficient from 2 to 3 from 2026 for selected buildings and units used for business, including in industry, energy or areas intended for production and warehouses.

In Roztoky near Prague, a new local coefficient of 1.6 is being introduced for all properties after a transitional period. The increase will thus be reflected not only in garages, recreational and business buildings, but also in family houses and apartments.

Hustopeče went in the opposite direction, where the basic coefficient was reduced, and the relief will be reflected across the board. Týnec nad Sázavou then proceeded to significantly reduce the local coefficient for apartments.

Coefficients as a gentle regulatory tool

It is increasingly evident that municipalities use coefficients as a subtle regulatory tool. They make it possible to target recreational properties, garages or business buildings, or, conversely, to correct the impacts where the tax has become politically or economically unsustainable.

For taxpayers, this means only one thing: to follow local ordinances and not rely on the fact that the amount of tax automatically copies the national setting.