Self-employed Person Leaving the Czech Republic

1) Interruption of activities in the Czech Republic

If a self-employed artist or another person working in the cultural sector as a self-employed person decides to pursue his/her activities temporarily in another Member State and this period does not exceed 24 months, after the expiry of which he/she returns and continues to pursue activities in the Czech Republic, nothing changes in terms of the applicability of the Czech social security scheme during this period, provided that certain conditions are met.

The self-employed person will continue paying contributions to the Czech social security scheme, from which he/she will be entitled to draw social security benefits under certain conditions. In order to prove his/her posting to an institution in another Member State, the self-employed person, like a posted employee, should have the A1 Form. The application for the certificate of applicable social security legislation is submitted to the OSSZ by the self-employed person himself or herself, or by a person authorised by the self-employed person, to the OSSZ at the place of the self-employed person’s permanent residence at least 30 days before departure.

The purpose of determining the applicable social security legislation is to secure that persons migrating for work from one Member State to another are insured in a single country. Social security contributions are then paid, and social security benefits are provided, according to the legislation of the respective Member State.

A self-employed person should take the A1 Form with himself or herself to the country of his/her temporary work to prove that he/she is registered for social security in the country where he/she pursues his/her activities. The self-employed person is obliged to show the certificate to inspectors when a labour inspection takes place at his/her the workplace.

If the self-employed person decides to leave for another Member State to work there for longer than 24 months, he/she has to deregister from social security at the relevant OSSZ in the Czech Republic and register at a similar institution at the place of his/her future working activities. In such case, the self-employed person will be subject to the social security system of that country from the start of his or he activities, which means that he/she will pay social security contributions and be able to ask for social benefits in that country under the same conditions as the local citizens.

You also have the option to register for voluntary participation in the state pension scheme in the Czech Republic.

2) Maintaining of self-employment activities in the Czech Republic

A special situation may occur when an artist does not interrupt his/herself-employment activities in the Czech Republic while starting to work as an employee in another Member State. In this case, he/she will be subject (pay contributions and receive benefits) to the social security legislation of the Member State in which he/she will be employed.

In the reverse situation, when an artist employed in the Czech Republic commences self-employment activities in another Member State, he/she will still be subject to the Czech legislation and will continue to be insured under the Czech social security scheme.

If the person is domiciled in the Czech Republic, he/she has to report his/her the commencement of concurrent employment and self-employment in two or more Member States to the OSSZ at his/her place of residence and ask the OSSZ to determine which country’s social security legislation he/she will be subject to – using A1 Form. Based on this, i the applicable social security legislation will be determined.

The situation of employees and self-employed persons who are posted or pursue activities simultaneously in two or more Member States of the EU or the EEA or Switzerland is governed by the EU’s coordinating regulations (Regulations (EC) No. 883/2004 and 987/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council).

After return to the Czech Republic it is always required to notify the respective OSSZ of the commencement of self-employment activities in the Czech Republic.