General info

It’s a possibility lurking in every expat’s life: Brno might not be your final destination. If the day comes when you’ll have to leave, there are some steps to take to do it right.

Yes, you could just pack your things and leave, and the municipality would probably not chase you down across the world with your unpaid waste collection bills. However, you never know if you’d like to come back one day – and it would be good to allow yourself a clean slate if you do so. (also, the EU cross-border enforcement tools on debt-collection are rather effective these days)

Here’s a list of the matters to keep in mind when planning your departure.

1. Immigration office

You have an obligation to return your residence permit (if you got one) and inform the Immigration office about your departure from the Czech Republic. You can do so either in person or by post right before your departure or anytime later.

Send (as a registered mail) your residence permit card with a short letter stating that you are leaving CR to the following address. 

2. Waste collection fee

You must pay the waste tax as long as your residence permit is associated with an address in Brno.

So before you can deregister yourself at the BrnoID.cz at the municipality webpage, you need to report a new address in a different city or cancel and return your residence permit at the Immigration Office (OAMP MoI). The Waste tax office keeps cross-checking the database with the OAMP and as long as they see your residence associated with an address in Brno, they expect you to continue paying waste tax.

If you are an EU citizen who never received the Registration certificate of temporary residence but registered for the waste tax because you lived in Brno, you can go directly to the BrnoID website and deregister.

In case of any doubts, email to odpady@brno.cz. They read English emails too 🙂

3. Taxes

There are no tax benefits for leaving the country. However, for the months when you didn’t work in the CR in a calendar year, you will be entitled to apply for a monthly relief for a taxpayer (around 2,000 CZK a month) and lower the taxes you have paid for the part of the year you were working.

However, you cannot do this anytime: you have to wait for your tax record until the end of the year and ask your last employer to do it for you or you will have to hire an accountant for this. 

4. Social security payments

If you were employed before your departure, your employer will simply stop paying your social security instalments when your contract finishes. There are no social security payments returned to you for leaving the country.

If you were self-employed, cancelling your Trade License takes one visit to the Trade License Office. Afterwards, they will automatically inform the Financial Office, Social Security Administration, and your public health insurance company about your change of status and you can simply stop paying your monthly instalments.

5. Health insurance

You are covered by the public health insurance until the last day of your employment. If you wish to stay in the CR longer and be covered by a health insurance, you will have to either purchase commercial health insurance (this applies to nonEU citizens without permanent residency) or stay in the public health insurance system as unemployed or pay for yourself each month (this applies to EU citizens).

If you’re leaving to another EU country, you have to cancel your Czech public insurance as you’re legally allowed to only have one EHIC card with full coverage in all the Member States. In some countries, your new insurance provider will do this for you. Ask in advance.

6. Finishing your rental contract

There might be other obligations to consider: we recommend to look again into your lease agreement to avoid any surprises. In particular, try to get answers to these questions: How long in advance do you need to give in your notice? When is the landlord obliged to give you back your deposit? What can they deduct from it? Do you need to have the flat repainted/properly cleaned before the takeover?

Read more on this in our guide concerning Lease Agreement.

7. Cancel your car insurance, deregister the car

If you had a car with Czech license plates, you had to have mandatory limited liability insurance. If you want to register a car in another country and switch car insurance, you have to contact (e-mail, call) your insurance company here and ask them to cancel your car insurance! They might ask you to send a copy of the new registration from the next country. If you don’t quit the insurance, it goes forever and a big dept is being built up.   How to deregister a car is explained here.

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Hopefully, your departure will go smoothly and you can soon focus on settling in in your new home. Please spread a good word about Brno to potential workers/business people/students looking for opportunities and experience and refer to us or the #brnoregion!

Picture by the City of Brno.