Rental Income Under §9 in 2026: Taxes and Insurance

Renting out a flat, house, or plot of land under a long-term tenancy agreement? Then your income falls under §9 of the Income Tax Act, which has a considerably simpler and cheaper tax regime than self-employment. Even so, many landlords end up paying more than they need to, or mistakenly treat their rental as a trade. In this article, we'll walk through how to tax long-term rental income in 2026, why you don't pay insurance contributions on it, and when a landlord effectively becomes a business operator.

What Falls Under §9, and Why It Isn't a Business

Under §9 of the Income Tax Act, rental income covers income from renting real estate or flats, as well as income from renting movable property, provided it is not merely occasional. This typically includes renting a flat, house, office, garage, or plot of land under a tenancy agreement concluded for a longer period.

The key point is that, from a tax law perspective, this type of income is passive income from property, not the result of a business activity. The landlord provides the tenant with space to use, but does not provide any accommodation or hotel-style services such as cleaning, changing linen, or reception. That is precisely why rental under §9:

• is not self-employment income under §7,
• does not require a trade licence,
• is not included in the assessment base for social or health insurance.

This is confirmed by information from the Financial Administration for landlords: income taxed under §9 is kept separate from business income and has its own rules for claiming expenses.

Do You Pay Social and Health Insurance on Rental Income?

No. And that's one of the main reasons long-term rental is tax-advantageous.

In practice, this makes a big difference in contributions. For a self-employed person (income under §7), social and health insurance together add roughly another 40% on top of the assessment base, over and above the tax itself. For rental income under §9, that burden disappears entirely, leaving only the 15% (or 23%) tax on the tax base.

Watch out, though, for the point at which a rental turns into an accommodation service. If you start offering short-term stays to guests, tenants turn over on a nightly basis, and you provide additional services, the tax authority will treat this as a business activity under §7, with all the accompanying contributions. We've covered short-term rental through platforms like Airbnb in a separate article, Airbnb and Short-Term Rental: How to Tax Your Income.

30% Flat-Rate Expenses, or Actual Expenses?

For a rental, you choose between two ways to reduce your tax base. You can pick only one, and it applies to all of your rental income for the given period.

30% Flat-Rate Expenses

If you don't claim demonstrably incurred expenses, under §9 you can claim flat-rate expenses of 30% of your rental income, up to a maximum of 600,000 Kč. You'll find this threshold directly in the wording of the law cited on the Financial Administration website: "If the taxpayer does not claim expenses demonstrably incurred to generate, secure, and maintain income, they may claim them at 30% of rental income, up to a maximum of 600,000 Kč."

The 600,000 Kč cap corresponds to annual rent of 2,000,000 Kč. If your rent is higher, the flat-rate deduction no longer grows, so above that threshold you effectively gain no further deduction from the flat rate.

The flat rate is the simplest option administratively: you don't need to keep receipts or deal with depreciation. You just need to keep records of income and of any receivables arising in connection with the rental.

Actual Expenses

The second option is to claim actual, demonstrably incurred expenses. These mainly include:

• tax depreciation of the rented property,
• mortgage interest on the loan used to acquire the rented property,
• repairs and maintenance of the flat,
• property insurance,
• real estate tax,
• fees for property management and services related to the rental that the landlord bears.

Actual expenses tend to pay off especially if you have a mortgage on the property, carry out major repairs, or claim depreciation, since in total these often exceed 30% of the rent. The downside is more administration: you need to keep records of both income and expenses and hold on to receipts.

§9 Rental vs. §7 Self-Employment vs. Short-Term Airbnb

The table below summarizes the three most common situations that landlords tend to confuse. The key difference is whether it's a passive rental of property or a business activity.

As you can see, the main financial advantage of §9 is the absence of insurance contributions. The same thousand crowns of rent works out significantly cheaper from a tax perspective than a thousand crowns of self-employment income.

Example Rental Tax Calculation

Let's illustrate this with concrete figures for 2026.

Mrs. Nováková rents out a flat for 15,000 Kč a month, i.e. 180,000 Kč a year. The flat has no mortgage and no major repairs, so she opts for the flat rate.

• Annual rental income: 180,000 Kč
• 30% flat-rate expenses: 54,000 Kč
• Tax base: 126,000 Kč
• Tax at 15%: 18,900 Kč

Had she earned the same income as a self-employed person under §7, she would have had to add social and health insurance on top of the tax, which would have come to tens of thousands of crowns more per year. Under §9, she pays only 18,900 Kč in tax and no insurance contributions at all.

If Mrs. Nováková also claims the taxpayer's basic allowance, the resulting tax could be significantly lower still, potentially even zero, if the rental is her only income and the tax base does not exceed the allowance.

How to Declare Rental Income

Income under §9 cannot be settled for you by an employer through an annual reconciliation. If you have rental income alongside employment above the relevant threshold, or if the rental is your main income above the statutory limit, you file the tax return yourself.

You can always find the exact deadlines and forms for the relevant period on the Financial Administration website. You can check the wording of the law in Act No. 586/1992 Coll., §9.

What to Watch Out For

• Passed-through services. Advance payments for energy and services that you merely collect and pass on to suppliers, or settle with the tenant, are not your taxable income. It's the rent that's taxed, not the operating advances.
• Joint marital property. If the rented property is part of joint marital property, only one of the spouses declares the rental income for tax purposes. It is not split between them.
• Switching between the flat rate and actual expenses. You can change the method between years, but not retroactively. When switching, you need to adjust the tax base for receivables and other items in line with the transitional rules.
• Misclassification. As soon as you move to short-term accommodation with additional services, you fall under §7, with all the accompanying contributions and trade licence requirements. Keep an eye on this threshold, since additional back-assessment of insurance contributions tends to be unpleasant.

Conclusion

Long-term rental under §9 is one of the most tax-friendly ways to make the most of a property. You don't pay insurance contributions on it, you don't need a trade licence, and you can claim expenses either with a simple 30% flat rate up to the 600,000 Kč cap, or at their actual amount, including depreciation and mortgage interest. All you need to do is pick the right option, keep the appropriate records, and report the income in Attachment No. 2 of your return.

Whichever you choose, flat rate or actual expenses, the key to a stress-free tax return is keeping your documents organized throughout the year. You can log receipts for repairs, invoices for property management, or proof of paid real estate tax on an ongoing basis just by photographing them with DokladBot, so at year end you have a complete overview of your rental income and expenses in one place, and you can file your return without digging through a box of receipts. Try DokladBot and keep your rental income under control all year round.