Fiscal receipts and EET for food delivery in the Czech Republic
For a food delivery operation in the Czech Republic, staying compliant comes down to two consistent obligations: issuing a correct receipt (účtenka) to the customer at the moment of payment, and reporting VAT (DPH) accurately. EET — elektronická evidence tržeb, the electronic registration of sales — was the headline scheme that once tied many of these receipts directly to the tax authority in real time. Its legal status has changed significantly in recent years, so you should not assume it is currently active or inactive; confirm the present rules with the Czech Financial Administration (Finanční správa) or a local accountant before configuring your point of sale. Whatever EET's on/off status, the practical principle for delivery is the same: every paid order needs a compliant receipt, and the right VAT rate must be applied and reported.
What EET was — and why its status keeps changing
EET (elektronická evidence tržeb) was introduced to reduce the grey economy by requiring businesses to register cash and card sales electronically with the tax authority, which then returned a unique code printed on the customer's účtenka. Restaurants and hospitality (EET restaurace) were among the sectors brought into scope, and delivery sales (EET rozvoz jídla) generally followed the same logic as any other taxable sale.
The scheme proved politically and administratively contentious. Obligations were phased, paused, and revised more than once, and the framework has been suspended and reshaped since its launch. Because of this volatile history, any blanket statement that "EET is mandatory" or "EET is abolished" risks being out of date. Treat EET as a moving target: verify the current requirement, the sectors in scope, and the technical specification directly with Finanční správa rather than relying on older guidance or hearsay.
What consistently matters for delivery operators
Regardless of whether EET is switched on, three things remain true for a Czech delivery business, and they are what your systems should be built around.
1. Issue a compliant receipt at payment, not at delivery
The taxable event is the sale. A receipt should be generated when the customer pays — whether that is online at checkout, on card at the door, or in cash to the courier — not whenever the food happens to be handed over. This distinction matters for delivery specifically, because payment and physical handover are often separated by time and place.
A few practical consequences:
- Online prepaid orders: the receipt should be tied to the successful payment, issued and made available to the customer (for example, by email or in-app), not held back until the courier arrives.
- Cash or card on delivery: the courier or the system needs to be able to produce a valid účtenka at the point the customer pays.
- Refunds and cancellations: these need correcting documents that reconcile with the original receipt, so your reporting stays clean.
2. Apply and report VAT (DPH) correctly
VAT (DPH) is the obligation that does not go away. Prepared food, drinks, and delivery can fall under different VAT treatments, and rates are set by Czech law and revised periodically. Your menu and checkout must map each item to the correct rate, and your reporting must roll those amounts up accurately for your VAT returns. If you operate across borders — common for chains running in Czechia alongside Poland, Germany, or Ukraine — do not assume one country's rate logic transfers to another. Confirm the current Czech rates and category rules with an accountant.
3. Keep your receipts and records auditable
Whatever the registration regime, you should be able to reconstruct what was sold, when, at what price, with which VAT, and how it was paid. A receipt numbering scheme, a stored copy of every Czech fiscal receipt a restaurant or delivery brand issues, and a clean link between order, payment, and receipt are what make an audit painless. This is also what lets you respond quickly if EET — or a successor scheme — is reactivated and you need to plug back into a real-time reporting endpoint.
How to keep a delivery operation compliant whatever EET does
The safest posture is to run your operation so that compliance does not depend on EET being on or off. Build receipt issuance and VAT handling into the system that actually processes the order, so the same flow works either way.
That is the approach we take with Toster. Because Toster is an all-in-one platform with its own POS, receipts are issued directly from the point of sale at the moment of payment — for prepaid online orders, card-on-delivery, and cash alike — with VAT applied per item and recorded against the order. Toster supports multi-country fiscal requirements, including Czechia, so a chain operating in several markets can keep food delivery receipts in the Czech Republic consistent with how it handles the same obligations elsewhere. If a real-time registration scheme is in force, having issuance and records centralised in one system is what makes connecting to it straightforward rather than a scramble.
For more on how fiscal rules differ market by market, see our overview of food delivery fiscalization across Europe. You can also explore how the platform handles food delivery operations end to end, review the full feature set, or, if you run several locations, see what we build for chains.
Frequently asked questions
Is EET currently mandatory for food delivery in the Czech Republic?
EET (elektronická evidence tržeb) has had a changing legal status, including periods of suspension and revision, so its current applicability should not be assumed. Confirm whether registration is required right now — and for which sales — with the Czech Financial Administration (Finanční správa) or a local accountant before relying on it.
When should I issue the receipt — at payment or at delivery?
At payment. The receipt should be generated when the customer actually pays, whether that is online at checkout or on the doorstep. For prepaid orders, tie the účtenka to the successful payment rather than waiting for the courier to hand over the food.
Do I still need to handle VAT (DPH) if EET is not active?
Yes. VAT (DPH) obligations are independent of the EET registration scheme. You must apply the correct Czech rate to each item and report it accurately, regardless of whether real-time sales registration is in force.
How can I stay compliant if EET rules change again?
Run receipt issuance and VAT handling inside the system that processes your orders, so compliance does not depend on EET's status. Keeping every receipt, payment, and order linked and auditable in one place means you can adapt quickly if a registration scheme is reintroduced — and book a demo if you want to see how Toster does this in practice.