Booking.com is the main source of reservations for many hosts in Czechia — and at the same time the source of a dangerous impression that the platform handles it for me. It does not. Foreign-guest reporting, the house and evidence books, the accommodation fee and VAT all remain yours — and on top of that, Booking.com gives you less guest data than you need for them.
What does Booking.com handle, and what not?
| Booking.com handles | Remains yours | |
|---|---|---|
| Reservation and payment | ✅ | — |
| Cancellation terms | ✅ (per your listing) | — |
| Guest data for the authorities | ❌ name and contact only | document, date of birth, nationality, purpose of stay |
| Foreign-guest report — UbyPort | ❌ | usually within 3 working days, fine up to CZK 50,000 |
| House book | ❌ | continuously, all guests |
| Evidence book | ❌ | continuously, basis for the fee |
| Accommodation fee | ❌ | collect from the guest + remit to the municipality per decree |
| VAT — identified person | ❌ (it causes it, in fact) | registration triggered by the commissions |
| Trade licence | ❌ | the licence is on you |
What is the biggest practical problem? Missing guest data
Reservations from Booking.com typically arrive with only a name and contact details — without the document number, date of birth, nationality and purpose of stay. Yet these are exactly the data the UbyPort report and both books require.
That means that for every reservation you have to collect the missing data yourself — by transcribing from the document at arrival, or before arrival with an online form. Across dozens of reservations per season, that is the difference between hours of transcription and zero.
Why does Booking.com mean dealing with VAT?
Commissions are invoiced by Booking.com B.V. from the Netherlands. By receiving a foreign supplier’s service, you as a non-VAT-payer become obliged to register as an identified person — regardless of turnover; it is the same mechanism as with Airbnb. You then file a return and pay VAT on the commission for every month with a commission received. In detail in our VAT guide.
Does the tax office know about my income?
Yes. Under the DAC7 rules, Booking.com automatically reports your income to the tax administration. The combination of Booking income plus no registration is therefore easy for the authorities to spot — order in your trade licence and taxes is not optional.
How Best Guest helps
Best Guest is the layer between Booking.com and your obligations: it imports reservations, sends the guest an online check-in that collects all the official data before arrival, automatically keeps the house and evidence books, computes the accommodation fee per your municipality’s decree, and submits foreign-guest reports to UbyPort automatically via the official API. Booking.com remains your source of reservations — the obligations stop being manual work. The technical connection is covered step by step in the Booking.com integration guide.
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
Does Booking.com report my guests to the police for me?
No. Booking.com brokers the reservation and the payment — reporting foreign guests to the foreign police via UbyPort (usually within 3 working days of the start of the stay), keeping the house and evidence books, and remitting the accommodation fee to the municipality are exclusively the host's obligations. The platform will not even remind you of them.
Do I get the data needed for the report from Booking.com?
Only partially. A Booking.com reservation typically contains a name and contact details, but not the document number, date of birth, nationality or purpose of stay — which is exactly the data the UbyPort report and both books require. You have to collect it from the guest yourself, ideally online before arrival.
Does Booking.com collect the accommodation fee for me?
By default no — you collect the accommodation fee from the guest and remit it to the municipality yourself, per your municipality's decree. The statutory cap is CZK 50 per person per night; the specific rate, due dates and exemptions are set by the municipality. If the fee is not included in the price, you must collect it from the guest during the stay.
Does Booking.com create any VAT obligation for me?
Yes — Booking.com B.V. is a Dutch company, so by receiving its services (commissions) you as a non-VAT-payer become obliged to register as an identified person, regardless of turnover. You then declare and pay VAT on every commission received.
Does Booking.com report my income anywhere?
Yes, to the tax administration — under the DAC7 rules, platforms automatically report accommodation providers' income. The tax office therefore sees your Booking.com income; the combination of platform income and a missing registration is easy for the authorities to spot.
Where do I find the guide for connecting Booking.com to Best Guest?
This article covers the legal obligations; the technical connection itself (importing reservations via iCal and automated guest messages) is covered by the separate Booking.com integration guide.
Sources
Verified against
Informational only
This page is provided for general information and is not legal or tax advice. Rates, deadlines and exemptions are set by law and municipal ordinances and can change — always verify current requirements with your municipality or a qualified advisor.