VAT
Identified person: what buying from Google, Meta or Booking triggers
· 3 min read
Buying ads, software or a booking platform service from a supplier not established in Czechia makes you an identified person — even if you are a small non-VAT freelancer. Here is what to do.
What an identified person is
A hybrid status: you are not a full VAT payer, you do not charge VAT on your Czech sales and you cannot deduct input VAT — but you must pay Czech VAT on certain cross-border purchases and supplies. It exists precisely so small businesses can buy foreign services without becoming full payers.
The typical triggers
Google Ads and Google Workspace, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) advertising, Booking.com and Airbnb commissions, AWS, Microsoft, Adobe, Canva, Slack, Zoom, LinkedIn, Amazon fees — anything invoiced by a company established outside Czechia with the reverse charge applied. Buying goods from another EU state above 326,000 CZK per year, and supplying services to EU businesses, are further triggers.
Register before the purchase, not after
The registration application must be filed within 15 days of the day the obligation arose, and the obligation arises on the date of the first such supply. In practice: register before you click "pay" on your first Meta invoice.
What you file afterwards
For every month in which such a purchase occurred, a VAT return by the 25th of the following month, and payment of 21 % Czech VAT calculated from the invoiced amount. No control statement. Months without such a purchase require no filing at all.
The real cost
The foreign service becomes 21 % more expensive for you, because you pay the VAT and cannot deduct it. That is worth modelling before scaling ad spend — at a certain volume, voluntary full VAT registration becomes cheaper.
If you have been buying ads without registering
It is fixable. Late registration, retrospective returns and payment of the VAT plus interest is far cheaper than being found during an inspection. Send us the invoices and we will quantify the exposure before anything is filed.
Need help with this in practice?
We go through your situation in a free consultation in English and tell you exactly what has to be registered, filed and paid.