The Czech Ministry of Finance says no proposal to tax investment flats is currently being prepared at the level of the governing coalition, ministry spokesperson Gabriela Krušinová told the daily Deník on 18 October 2026. The statement came as landlord and developer groups stepped up warnings that a higher tax on owners of several flats would be passed on to tenants. The idea, floated by Finance Minister Alena Schillerová of the ANO movement, has no published rate, threshold or start date.
For overseas buyers who own rental flats in Prague, nothing has changed in law. Schillerová has said any measure would target owners of a large number of properties, not the general population, and she has ruled out an across-the-board rise in property tax, citing the fact that more than 70 per cent of Czech households live in homes they own, according to e15. Hospodářské noviny reported that the ministry had not decided how many owned properties would trigger a higher rate, or whether the number, value or use of the properties would count. There is no legal definition of an “investment flat”; the Czech National Bank treats a third or further property as one for mortgage-lending rules, e15 reported.
The debate began when Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s government presented a draft 2027 state budget with a deficit of 389 billion koruna at the end of August, e15 reported. On 27 September, Schillerová said on Czech Television that some tax increases could not be avoided, and that she was working on a variant in which tax on investment flats would rise above a certain threshold, according to the Czech News Agency (ČTK). Coalition partners have pushed back: Filip Turek of the Motorists told CNN Prima NEWS the measure would not get his party’s support, and Tomio Okamura, leader of the SPD and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, rejected the idea outright. The previous government of Petr Fiala raised property tax by 80 per cent on average from 1 January 2024, according to the Ministry of Finance as cited by CNN Prima NEWS.
On 13 October, the Rental Housing Association (ANB) and the Association for Real Estate Market Development (ARTN) said the rate and form of the measure remained unclear, put typical returns on investment flats at about 3 per cent a year, and noted that property-tax revenue goes to municipalities rather than the state budget. They asked for an impact analysis and public debate before any legislation. Babiš told CNN Prima NEWS the cabinet could deal with the legislation next year, and said all such legislative changes must be completed by the end of 2027; Schillerová said the coalition faces a major debate over the 2028 budget, which must consolidate about 60 billion koruna, adding that there is currently no agreement.
References
Around Prague – Czech investment apartment tax: what it means for renters / Deník – Vláda chce danění investičních bytů. Platili by ti nejchudší, deficit by zůstal / CNN Prima NEWS – ANO k prosazení vyšší daně z investičních bytů chybí koaliční podpora / ČTK via ČeskéNoviny.cz – Zvýšení některých daní se podle Schillerové nebude možné vyhnout / e15 – Rekordní schodek chce vláda řešit i pomocí zdanění nemovitostí / Kurzy.cz – Zdanění investičních bytů může zmenšit nájemní trh a zvýšit nájemné / Hospodářské noviny – Desítky tisíc ročně za jeden byt? Stát vymýšlí, jak zdanit investiční nemovitosti
