The Trade Register under Section 60 of the Trade Licensing Act

The Trade Register is the central record of all entrepreneurs holding a trade licence in the Czech Republic. The rules governing what it contains, which data are public, and what extracts you can obtain from it are found in Section 60 of Act No. 455/1991 Coll., on Trade Licensing. In this article we explain how the register works and what you can obtain from it in practice.

What the law says

Under Section 60(1), the Trade Register is "a public-administration information system kept in electronic form." It is therefore not a paper card index but a database. Its administrator is the Trade Licensing Office of the Czech Republic, and it is operated by the regional and municipal Trade Licensing Offices.

What the register contains (Section 60(2)): a range of data about each entrepreneur is recorded here, in particular identification data, the subject and type of trade, the addresses of business premises, the period of validity and the date of creation or termination of the trade licence, data on the suspension of operation, on entry into liquidation or insolvency, but also data on imposed fines and sanctions and the address for service. In addition, data of a statistical and record-keeping nature are also kept.

Public and non-public part (Section 60(3)): The law provides that, in the part made up of the data listed in subsection 2, the register is in principle a public list, "unless otherwise provided below." At the same time, however, it defines a non-public part, which includes in particular:

• the entrepreneur's birth identification number, data on residence and place of stay,
• data on imposed fines and sanctions and the address for service,
• the remaining data after 4 years have elapsed from the date of termination of the last trade licence,
• documents filed with the Trade Licensing Office.

Extracts from the register (Section 60(5)): the law distinguishes a full extract (containing all the data under subsection 2 relating to a single person), a partial extract (only the data within the requested scope), and a confirmation of a particular entry, or alternatively "a confirmation that a particular entry is not in the Trade Register."

Provision to other bodies (Section 60): The Trade Licensing Office of the Czech Republic provides data to the bodies listed in Section 48, to other administrative bodies and to bodies under other regulations, where they need them for the performance of their activities, and does so in electronic form enabling remote access.

Interpretation and explanation

The logic of Section 60 rests on a balance between the transparency of business and the protection of personal data. The state wants anyone to be able to verify that a business partner actually holds a trade licence for the given activity. That is why data such as a name or business name, company identification number (IČO), the subject of business, the registered office, and business premises are in the public part, which anyone may inspect without having to prove a legal interest or a reason.

Conversely, the law protects sensitive data. The birth identification number, the exact residence, and information about imposed sanctions could be misused, which is why they belong to the non-public part. Only authorised bodies, or a person who proves a legal interest, can access them.

The element of a "public-administration information system" is also important. Thanks to it, data from the public part are issued as verified outputs – typically via Czech POINT – and have the same evidentiary value as an extract from the office. You therefore do not need to go anywhere in person; you can view the public part online.

A point to watch out for: there is a special regime for the so-called compilation (set), that is, a bulk list of entrepreneurs meeting certain conditions. It contains only basic identification data (first name, surname or business name, the address of the registered office, and the company identification number), is provided upon request usually within 30 days (for a particularly extensive compilation the time limit is extended), and you may not publish the obtained data or pass them on to third parties.

Practical impacts and examples

Example 1 – verifying a supplier. You are about to pay a deposit to a tradesperson. Before you do so, you open the public part of the Trade Register, enter their company identification number (IČO), and check whether they have an active licence for the given trade and whether operation has not been suspended. You can find all this out from the public part free of charge and online.

Example 2 – I need a document for an office or a bank. A bank asks you to prove that you are in business. You have a full extract from the register issued as a verified output at Czech POINT. If it is enough to prove only one fact (e.g. that you hold a particular trade), a partial extract or a confirmation of a particular entry will suffice.

Example 3 – my birth identification number. You are worried that after registration in the register your birth identification number will be publicly searchable. It will not – it belongs to the non-public part, just like data on residence. The public part usually shows only the registered office (which, for a self-employed person, may but need not coincide with the residence).

Example 4 – sanctions. You received a fine from the Trade Licensing Office. A record of the sanction is indeed kept, but it is in the non-public part, so an ordinary user will not see it in the public extract.

Connections

The Trade Register closely follows on from the obligations relating to the notification of a trade and from the range of bodies to which data are provided (Section 48 of the Trade Licensing Act). If you are only considering going into business, take a look at our catalogue of trades, where you will find individual fields and their classification, or at the practical guide on how to start a trade. After registration, your trade licence is reflected precisely in the Trade Register, from where you can then obtain an extract at any time.

Notice: This text is a general interpretation of Section 60 of Act No. 455/1991 Coll. as at the date of preparation and does not replace individual legal advice. Verify the current and complete wording in the Collection of Laws.