Changes to Radio and TV Fee Calculation for Businesses in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is going to raise license fees for radio and TV in 2025. However, small businesses will not have to pay these fees to use radio and TV.

The Czech Ministry of Culture has made a change to the rules about how businesses can pay their radio and TV license fees. If approved, the new rules will apply in 2025.

In particular, entrepreneurs with fewer than 24 employees will be exempt from fees. Additionally, license fees will increase by 25 kroons next year. Now the fee for using the radio is 45 CZK per month, and for television, it is 135 CZK per month. According to the new tariffs, it will be 150 and 55 CZK, respectively. Simultaneously, plans are underway to implement an indexation mechanism to account for inflation.

According to the explanatory note, the transitional provision of this bill will set the new fees for radio and television, and the government will increase the fees by decree starting on July 1 of the calendar year that follows the year in which the inflation rate for previous years since the last increase in radio or television fees exceeds 6%.

Who is required to pay license fees for radio and TV in the Czech Republic?

Currently, license fee payers in the Czech Republic are individuals or legal entities that own a radio or television receiver. The current monthly fee for radio is 45 CZK, and for television, it is 135 CZK. Households pay fees only for television (even if they have a radio).

Entrepreneurs, whether individuals or legal entities, pay for each radio or television receiver they use for business.

Fees are payable on equipment technically capable of reproducing radio or television broadcasts of individual choice if they are transmitted by terrestrial broadcasting equipment using radio frequencies reserved for the distribution and transmission of radio or television broadcasts, satellites, or cable systems. As a result, a radio or television receiver is not a device that receives and reproduces transmissions over the Internet, as currently formulated.

Last year, the Ministry of Culture presented an amendment calling for a 35 CZK fee increase, an expansion of the devices that must pay fees, and a new payment concept for entrepreneurs. However, after its publication, the amendment was subject to serious criticism, and the government coalition decided that the Ministry of Culture would rework the amendment.

The proposed amendment introduces new fees for mobile phones and computers

 A new amendment to the law proposes to expand the definition of radio and television receivers, potentially impacting fees on electronic devices.

Currently, a receiver is defined as a device capable of reproducing radio or television broadcasts, regardless of the reception method. The amendment aims to include any device that receives transmissions through various means, such as terrestrial broadcasts, satellite systems, cable networks, and the Internet.

This broadened definition encompasses all computers and mobile devices (including mobile phones and tablets) technically capable of receiving radio and television broadcasts. Consequently, if the amendment passes, the obligation to pay broadcasting fees, currently limited to owners of traditional radio and television sets, would extend to individuals owning computers, tablets, mobile phones, or other broadcast-capable devices.

The explanatory note clarifies that households would still be required to pay only one broadcasting fee, regardless of the number of capable devices they own.

Entrepreneurs will experience fee adjustments based on the number of employees they have

The proposed amendments also introduce changes to fees for entrepreneurs. Despite widespread criticism, the revised amendment maintains the original proposal of basing fees on the number of employees rather than the number of receivers.

The ministry proposes an alternative fee determination methodology for these entities, acknowledging the impracticality of charging businesses per device if broadcasting fees include computers and mobile devices.

However, the initial proposal has revised the threshold for exemption from the fee. While the ministry previously suggested exempting entrepreneurs with no more than five employees, the revised amendment raises this threshold to 24 employees for both individual entrepreneurs and companies.

New rates for entrepreneurs 

The initially proposed rates also changed, and higher differentiation was introduced depending on the number of employees. New rates for entrepreneurs will be as follows:

• for primary employment of 25 to 49 people—5 times the radio and television fee for the household (thus the fee will be CZK 1,025 per month).
• for main employment of 50 to 99 people—10 times (CZK 2,050)
• for primary employment from 100 to 199 people—20 times the amount (CZK 4,100)
• from 200 to 249 employees at the main place of work—30 times the amount (CZK 6,150)
• for 250–499 employees at their main place of work—70 times the amount (CZK 14,350)
• for more than 500 employees—100 times the radio fee and 100 times the television fee (CZK 20,500).

However, the change in the fee system does not apply to entrepreneurs leasing vehicles. Currently, these entrepreneurs (leasing companies) rent about 4 million cars out of 5.5 million company cars. These companies often have very few employees.

If these entrepreneurs and legal entities were subject to the rule of paying radio and television fees depending on the number of employees, then there would be a sharp decrease in income, especially for radio fees, since the radio and television receivers included in the vehicle are currently subject to radio and television charges paid by the vehicle operator, the explanatory note adds.

Therefore, the Ministry proposes to retain in the law the provision that persons renting vehicles will continue to pay a fee for radio and television receivers that are part of the rented vehicle.

What will Czech companies have to report on if the amendment is approved?

Taxpayers are expected to report certain data to the broadcaster or an authorized person (Czech Post).

An entrepreneur will be required to provide his or her first name, last name, or business name, place of business, identification number, and subject of activity.

A legal entity must provide its business name, legal form, legal address, identification number, and activity subject.

At the same time, entrepreneurs will have to indicate the number of employees.

The explanatory note stated that individual entrepreneurs and legal entities renting vehicles must also report their number for registration purposes, as they will be required to pay for all vehicles. It also added that the number of radios or television receivers will no longer need reporting.

Additional radio fee for czech entrepreneurs

In the following scenario, Czech entrepreneurs may be required to pay an additional radio fee of CZK 1,000.

Deregistration: When an entrepreneur deregisters as a taxpayer, they gain exemption from the standard fee and also cease to pay the radio or television fee.

This proposed measure aims to ensure that entrepreneurs who were previously exempt but continue to use broadcast services contribute their share to the broadcasters.

Source

https://www.podnikatel.cz/clanky/podnikatele-s-maximalne-24-zamestnanci-nebudou-muset-platit-koncesionarske-poplatky/

https://www.podnikatel.cz/aktuality/koncesionarske-poplatky-se-maji-zvysit-o-25-kc-navic-porostou-o-inflaci/