Payroll, Personnel and Social and Health Insurance
What the exam tests
Calculation of gross-to-net pay, employer contributions, income-tax advances, tax credits, and treatment of employment agreements. The exam tests the post-2021 system, after the super-gross wage was abolished.
Core rules
- Employee social insurance 6.5% of gross; employee health insurance 4.5%; employer social 24.8%; employer health 9%. These rates apply to gross wage, subject to statutory caps and exemptions.
- Income tax is withheld as an advance at 15% for the standard band and 23% above the statutory high-income threshold. The basic taxpayer credit reduces the monthly advance; child credits and other credits apply under the rules.
- The super-gross wage (superhrubá mzda) no longer exists: the tax base is gross wage, not gross plus employer contributions.
- Benefits and non-cash income are taxed unless expressly exempt. A DPP (agreement on work performance) has a monthly earnings threshold for social and health participation; a DPČ has a different threshold. Check current amounts.
- Payroll records must support the calculation and withholding; the employer files the monthly withholding tax return and reports to the social and health insurers.
Worked example
Gross monthly wage CZK 40,000. Employee social 6.5% = 2,600; health 4.5% = 1,800. Tax base 40,000; advance at 15% = 6,000. Basic credit 2,570 reduces it to 3,430. Net pay = 40,000 - 2,600 - 1,800 - 3,430 = 32,170. The employer additionally pays social 24.8% = 9,920 and health 9% = 3,600, so total employer cost is 53,520. The reasoning is: employee contributions and tax are withheld from gross; employer contributions are a separate cost.
Traps
Using the abolished super-gross wage; applying the basic credit twice; forgetting that the 23% rate applies only to the part above the threshold; treating a DPP as always insured; omitting other statutory employer contributions where applicable. Watch the difference between a tax credit and a tax bonus: the bonus is paid only if conditions are met.