A Czech sale runs through an advocate's escrow and a cadastre petition that takes about three weeks. The tax turns on a 5 or 10 year holding test or 2 years of residence, and the visa ban on Russians and Belarusians affects how you sign, not whether you may sell.
In brief
As of 7 November 2026 a Czech sale by a non-resident normally runs through an advocate's or notary's escrow and a petition to the cadastre: the fee is CZK 2,000, review takes about 20 to 25 days, and the buyer becomes owner from the day the petition is filed. Income tax on the gain is 15% (23% is also quoted), but a sale is exempt after 5 years if you bought up to 31 December 2020, after 10 years if you bought from 1 January 2021, or if you lived in the home for the last 2 years. We found nothing on how non-residents use the residence exemption, so check that with a Czech tax adviser. Agents ask 3% to 6%, typically about 4%. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
How a sale runs for a seller who lives abroad
The usual order is: agree the price and sign a reservation or a sale agreement, pay the price into escrow, file the petition with the cadastre (katastr nemovitosti), wait for the registration, and only then release the money to you. Czech guides describe the attorney's escrow in exactly that order: the lawyer holds the buyer's money and pays the seller after the cadastre has registered the buyer as the owner. A notary can also hold the money, but attorneys are the common choice.
The cadastre fee is CZK 2,000 per petition. Several guides say the buyer normally pays it, and that shared costs such as the escrow are often split. A law-firm blog puts the review at least 20 days and about 25 on average, and a 2026 guide says about 20 days plus a few weeks of paperwork. The buyer becomes owner retroactively from the day the petition reached the cadastre, which is why the money is released only after the registration is confirmed.
Documents and signing from abroad
Foreign-language documents are filed in the original together with a certified Czech translation (Slovak documents are exempt). Ask your advocate which of your papers are foreign-language, because an extract from your own country's register, a marriage certificate or a power of attorney issued abroad all fall under that rule.
If you cannot travel to sign, a power of attorney is the usual solution. We did not research how a power of attorney signed abroad must be certified for the Czech cadastre (apostille, consular legalisation, translation), so do not assume the form you used elsewhere will be accepted: send the draft to the advocate first. This matters for one group in particular. The press reports that the Czech Republic stopped issuing visas and residence permits to Russian and Belarusian citizens, so an owner with such a passport and no Czech permit may not be able to come to the signing at all.
What the Russian and Belarusian restrictions cover
Press reports say the Czech Republic stopped issuing visas and residence permits to citizens of Russia and Belarus in 2022, then extended the measure without end, and that a 2024 amendment made the bar on visa applications permanent, including for dual nationals. The exceptions are cases certified by the Foreign Minister as being in the interest of the Czech Republic and some family-reunification permits. People who already hold a residence permit are not affected, and most citizenship applications from Russians are reported frozen.
All of this concerns entering and living in the country. We found no source that restricts selling property or opening or keeping a bank account for Russian or Belarusian owners, and we do not claim there is none: the sources were news items from 2022 to 2026 and we did not read the decree itself. Check the current position with the advocate before you rely on a signing date.
Agent commission and how long it takes
There is no legal cap on the agent's commission. Czech sites quote 3% to 6%, with about 4% typical and lower percentages on expensive property. The commission is normally due on completion, on the day you receive the money. An exclusive agreement can run for at most six months and can be renewed, but not earlier than 30 days before it ends. If you sell without an agent, the same escrow and cadastre steps apply.
We did not find an average time to sell a Prague flat. A single reader's story of a flat sold in ten days is not a benchmark. As a planning assumption of ours, allow 2 to 4 months from listing to money in your account, of which the cadastre review is about three weeks.
Income tax in brief
The sources agree on the main tests. A sale is exempt when the time test is met: 5 years for property acquired up to 31 December 2020, 10 years for property acquired from 1 January 2021, and the date of acquisition decides, not the date of sale. A sale is also exempt if the seller had residence in the home for at least 2 years immediately before the sale (residence need not be the same as permanent registration), and a shorter residence can still work if the proceeds go to your own housing need. Otherwise the gain is taxed at 15%, and 23% is also quoted for part of the income.
Two points need care. First, exempt income over CZK 5,000,000 must still be notified to the tax office by the end of the filing deadline, and Czech tax advisers describe the fines for missing it as sharp. Second, no source we found says whether a non-resident can use the 2-year residence exemption or how a non-resident declares and pays the 15%. Ask a Czech tax adviser and check the double tax treaty with your country of residence. For other countries, see taxes when selling property abroad: non-residents by country.
A worked example (illustrative)
Take a flat bought in 2022 for CZK 4,000,000 and sold in 2026 for CZK 6,000,000 by an owner who never lived there. The 10-year test is not met and there is no residence, so the gain is CZK 2,000,000 before allowable costs. At 15% the tax is CZK 300,000. The agent at 4% takes CZK 240,000. The cadastre fee of CZK 2,000 usually falls on the buyer, and the escrow is CZK 5,000 to 25,000 by one guide's estimate, often shared. If the same flat was bought in 2019, the 5-year test is met, the sale is exempt, but because the income exceeds CZK 5,000,000 it still has to be notified. These are our arithmetic on stated assumptions, not a tax calculation.
Getting the money out
The escrow pays the price to the bank account you name. Name an account in your own name and tell the advocate early which bank it is, because the bank, not the escrow, decides whether the payment arrives. Banks and advocates run source-of-funds and anti-money-laundering checks on cross-border sums: expect to show the sale contract, the cadastre extract and proof of the tax paid or exempted. For the general mechanics of bringing sale proceeds home, see repatriating money after selling property abroad and, for an owner from a sanctions-affected jurisdiction, bank checks for Russian citizens living in the EU. We found no source on currency control or on how banks treat a seller with a Russian, Belarusian, Kazakh or Ukrainian passport, so ask the receiving bank before you sign.
Common mistakes
- Signing an exclusive agency agreement for six months without checking the exit terms.
- Paying or receiving money outside the escrow before the cadastre has registered the buyer.
- Assuming the 2-year residence exemption works for a non-resident without asking a Czech tax adviser.
- Forgetting to notify exempt income over CZK 5,000,000.
- Counting the holding period from the wrong date: the date of acquisition decides, not the date of sale.
- Planning the signing date without checking whether you can enter the country, or whether your power of attorney will be accepted.
Step by step, with timing
- Weeks 1 to 2: ask a Czech tax adviser which test applies, choose an advocate, check the power of attorney form.
- Weeks 2 to 6: list the flat (agent or direct), agree the price and the escrow terms.
- Weeks 6 to 8: sign the sale agreement, the buyer pays the price into escrow.
- Weeks 8 to 11: the cadastre petition is filed and reviewed, about 20 to 25 days.
- Week 11 or 12: the escrow releases the money to your account after the registration.
- The following spring: file the tax return, or the notification of exempt income, within the deadline (confirm the dates, they were not confirmed here).
More on the full process and the pitfalls is in the general guide selling property abroad: step by step, timeline and pitfalls. If you are managing the flat from afar before the sale, see property management for remote owners, and for buyers' side see buying property in the Czech Republic: guide for foreigners. The timings above are our planning assumptions, not statutory deadlines.
FAQ
Can a non-resident sell property in the Czech Republic? Yes, we found no rule that prevents it. The sale runs through the same escrow and cadastre steps, but the tax side for non-residents was not clear in the sources, so confirm it with a Czech tax adviser first.
Do I pay tax on selling my Czech flat? Only if no exemption applies: the 5 or 10 year time test, or 2 years of residence in the home. The gain is then taxed at 15%, and 23% is also quoted for part of the income. Exempt income over CZK 5,000,000 must still be notified.
Can a Russian or Belarusian owner sell and sign remotely? We found no restriction on selling, but the visa and residence bar means the owner may not be able to enter. A power of attorney is the usual route, and its certification form should be agreed with the advocate before signing.
How long does the sale take? The cadastre review alone is about 20 to 25 days. Our planning range from listing to money in your account is 2 to 4 months, which is an assumption.
How much does the agent cost? Typically about 4%, with 3% to 6% quoted and no legal cap, due on completion. Check the exclusive period: at most six months.