Registering a trade

If you want to work as a courier for companies such as Bolt, Wolt, Dáme Jídlo or Uber, you must register a trade. The trade registration process itself is always the same. It is important to hold authorisation for the activity you will carry out. 

Activity Type of trade Trade or activity category
Food delivery – on foot/by bicycle

Unregulated

“Manufacturing, trade and services not listed in Annexes 1 to 3 of the Trade Licensing Act” – category (PROBABLY) 82 – Manufacturing, trade and services not elsewhere classified
Food delivery – by car

Parcel delivery

Concession-based

 Road motor transport – goods transport using vehicles with a maximum permissible weight not exceeding 3.5 t
Taxi service

Concession-based

 Road motor transport – passenger transport using vehicles designed to carry no more than 9 people, including the driver

For unregulated trades, registration is simplest: just visit the nearest trade licensing office with your ID card. To register, you must be over 18, have a clean criminal record and full legal capacity :-). Registration itself costs CZK 1,000. If you already have a data box, you can also register through the online form :-).

For concession-based trades, there is an additional requirement: you must be granted a concession to operate. Essentially, another authority must give you the green light. Complete the concession application at the trade licensing office; it forwards your application to the transport department, and the concession is issued within 30 days. Registration therefore takes a little time.

As a new sole trader, you will also have to pay social and health insurance. Students earning extra money through deliveries alongside their studies have certain advantages, which I have already summarised. 

In the next two articles, I will cover taxation of income from deliveries or taxi services. We will discuss how to tax this income and what to watch out for with VAT. If you are unsure what to do, please get in touch and we can look at it together. 🙂