Evidenční kniha (Registration Book)

What the Registration Book is

The Registration Book is required by the Local Fees Act (§ 3g of Act No. 565/1990 Coll.). It is kept by whoever collects the accommodation fee, i.e. the provider of a paid stay (§ 3f), in a municipality that has introduced the fee by decree (§ 14). It is kept for each establishment or place where you provide paid stays, on paper or electronically (§ 3g(1)).

Every guest you provide a paid stay to goes into it, regardless of citizenship: Czech guests just like foreign ones, and also guests who are exempt from the fee.

What goes into it

The law sets the data (§ 3g(2)):

• the first and last day of the stay,
• first name(s), surname and the address of registered residence, or a comparable address abroad,
• date of birth,
• number and type of identity document (for example an ID card, a travel document or a residence permit),
• the amount of fee collected, or the reason for the exemption.

Entries must be kept correctly, completely, verifiably, clearly, intelligibly, in a durable way and in chronological order (§ 3g(3)). You keep the book for 6 years from the date of the last entry (§ 3g(4)). It is checked by the municipal office as the fee administrator (§ 15).

How it differs from the House Book and UbyPort

The House Book (domovní kniha) is a different register under a different law: only accommodated foreign nationals are entered in it (§ 100(f) and § 101 of Act No. 326/1999 Coll.), and the police inspect it. UbyPort reporting also covers foreign nationals only. The Registration Book is legally separate from both: it is the basis for the accommodation fee and for documenting exemptions.

The data largely overlap, though, because you need each guest’s name, date of birth, document and stay dates anyway. When the guest fills in their details once during online check-in, that single submission can produce the Registration Book entry and, for a foreign guest, the House Book entry and the UbyPort report as well.

Watch out for

• Czech guests belong in the Registration Book. It is not only for foreign nationals.
• Exempt guests are entered too, with the reason for the exemption (for example a guest under 18, § 3b). Without the entry, the exemption is hard to document during an inspection.
• Each establishment has its own book. If you rent out several properties, keep a separate record for each.

In Best Guest, the Registration Book is kept from the same online check-in data, and you download it as a separate PDF from the House Book.