EET — Elektronická evidence tržeb (abolished 2023)

The Czech EET (Elektronická evidence tržeb) is one of Europe's rare examples of a full abolition of a real-time fiscal mandate. Introduced in 2016 by the Sobotka government on the drive of Andrej Babiš, partly censured as early as 2017 by the Ústavní soud (ruling Pl. ÚS 26/16), it was fully abolished on 1 January 2023 by Act No. 458/2022 Coll. under the Fiala government. A textbook case of a reform-then-rollback cycle.

History — 2016 launch, 2023 abolition

Czech EET took direct inspiration from the Croatian (Hrvatska Fiskalizacija 2013) and Slovenian (Davčna blagajna 2016) models. The Czech Finance Ministry under Babiš pushed it as a VAT anti-fraud tool — every cash transaction had to be transmitted to GFŘ via SOAP web service with returned FIK UUID (Fiskální identifikační kód) printed on the receipt.

But political backing quickly wavered. Merchants contested the technical burden. The Ústavní soud ruled in December 2017 in Pl. ÚS 26/16: partial censure of the articles extending EET to occasional sales and SMEs. Then the 2021 Fiala coalition wrote abolition into its government programme.

2015       | The Sobotka government (ČSSD) — driven by Finance Minister
           | Andrej Babiš — passes Act No. 112/2016 Coll. on cash
           | reporting (EET).
           |
2016       | 1 December: Phase 1 enters force — catering and hospitality.
           | Every cash receipt must be transmitted in real time to GFŘ
           | via web service with returned FIK UUID.
           |
2017       | 1 March: Phase 2 — retail. Strong political tension,
           | merchant demonstrations.
           |
2017       | 15 December: Ústavní soud ruling Pl. ÚS 26/16 — partial
           | censure of several articles. The Court rules disproportionate
           | application to occasional sales and SMEs without a payment
           | terminal.
           |
2018-2019  | Legislative rewrite. Phases 3 and 4 (crafts, free services)
           | postponed then reshaped.
           |
2020       | COVID-19. Partial EET suspension to relieve affected
           | businesses. New Babiš government then caretaker government.
           |
2021       | Legislative elections. SPOLU + STAN coalition wins majority.
           | Fiala government programme commits to EET abolition —
           | perceived administrative cost outweighs real fiscal yield.
           |
2022       | Adoption of Act No. 458/2022 Coll. — full EET abolition
           | from 1 January 2023.
           |
2023       | 1 January: EET abolished. Merchants close EET accounts,
           | remove printers. GFŘ doctrine publishes a migration guide
           | to traditional cash registers.

Governance — from MF Babiš to Fiala abolition

EET illustrates how Czech fiscal governance can swing with political turnover:

• Launch phase (2015-2017): MF ČR under Andrej Babiš (ANO), driven by the political need to brand an anti-fraud stance. GFŘ operates, NÚKIB sets security.
• Contestation phase (2017-2019): Ústavní soud Pl. ÚS 26/16, professional demonstrations, business press pushback. Phases 3-4 (crafts, free services) frozen.
• Freeze phase (2020-2021): COVID, EET suspensions to relieve affected businesses. The system remains legal but effectively unenforced.
• Abolition phase (2022): Fiala coalition passes Act No. 458/2022 Coll. Finance Minister Stanjura announces official shutdown for 1 January 2023.

Technical schema — the architecture that vanished

For memory — the following infrastructure was decommissioned end of 2022:

• GFŘ SOAP web service — endpoint fs.mfcr.cz/eet received every transaction in real time, returned a signed FIK. Public XML v3 schema, qualified certificate mandatory.
• FIK (Fiskální identifikační kód) — unique UUID returned by GFŘ after reception. Printed on receipt for the consumer.
• BKP (Bezpečnostní kód poplatníka) — fallback code computed by the till, printed if the network was unavailable (offline mode).
• PKP (Podpisový kód poplatníka) — RSA 2048 SHA-256 signature of the transaction by the till certificate.
• Provozovna + pokladna identifier — every till had its unique ID in the tax registry.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- Example of an EET transmission (pre-abolition) -->
<!-- Schema archived for memory — DO NOT USE in production -->
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <soap:Body>
    <Trzba xmlns="http://fs.mfcr.cz/eet/schema/v3">
      <Hlavicka uuid_zpravy="abc-123-def-456"
                dat_odesl="2022-12-30T16:42:00+01:00"
                prvni_zaslani="true"/>
      <Data dic_popl="CZ12345678"
            id_provoz="1"
            id_pokl="POKL-1"
            porad_cis="0001/2022"
            dat_trzby="2022-12-30T16:42:00+01:00"
            celk_trzba="1210.00"
            zakl_dan1="1000.00"
            dan1="210.00"
            rezim="0"/>
      <KontrolniKody>
        <pkp digest="SHA256" cipher="RSA2048" encoding="base64">
          jZ8U3VlnoLfA+1qB...
        </pkp>
        <bkp digest="SHA1" encoding="base16">
          5DD13456-DE12F8B2-1C9B5A87-9F87E60B-23E45A11
        </bkp>
      </KontrolniKody>
    </Trzba>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

<!--
Expected response (pre-abolition):
  <Odpoved>
    <Potvrzeni fik="b3a09b52-7c83-4c30-9c79-1a7d-7d40-1234567890ab"/>
  </Odpoved>

FIK codes returned within 2 seconds max — otherwise offline mode
with BKP (Bezpečnostní kód poplatníka) printed on receipt.
-->

EET vs active CTCs (IT/HU/PL)

Adoption — real numbers 2016-2022

• 2017 (peak): ~250,000 EET-registered entities, ~700 million transactions transmitted to GFŘ per year.
• Estimated extra fiscal yield: 6-8 billion CZK / year (~€250-330M) per GFŘ — well below the 18 billion CZK projected by MF in 2015.
• Equipment cost per entity: 5,000-30,000 CZK (€200-€1,200) depending on the till + service.
• 2022 (pre-abolition): actual usage rate < 50% — many entities in COVID suspension.
• 2023 (post-abolition): 0 transactions. Platform closed, certificates revoked, GFŘ archives frozen for retroactive audits until 2030.

Remaining pitfalls — the transactional legacy

• Retroactive tax audits until 2030. GFŘ retains EET archives to audit 2016-2022 periods. Any inconsistency remains enforceable.
• Certified tills still active. Some vendors (Storyous, Dotykačka, Markeeta) keep their tills connected in "post-EET" mode for internal management — but no longer for real-time transmission.
• Obsolete qualified certificate. All certificates issued by I.CA, PostSignum, Sigsa for EET have expired. Any transmission attempt to old fs.mfcr.cz/eet endpoints fails.
• ERP confusion with other countries. Multinational ERPs that disabled EET for CZ but kept the equivalent for SK, HR or SI may encounter cross-configuration errors.
• ViDA and a potential return. The 2025-2028 debate on ViDA-DRR could reintroduce sectoral real-time mechanisms — but EET abolition remains a strong political signal from the Fiala coalition.

Cross-links

• Czech Republic hub — full overview
• ViDA — Czech roadmap
• DPH — VAT regimes
• ISDOC — national XML standard
• Datová schránka — legal inbox
• PEPPOL — European standard
• Act No. 458/2022 Coll. (abolition)
• Act No. 112/2016 Coll. (original act)
• Ústavní soud — Pl. ÚS 26/16 ruling