Why the law wants two records of the same guest, what goes into which, who checks it and why both are kept for six years.
“I keep a guest book,” says almost every host. When I ask which one, there's usually silence. Czech law actually requires two — and they're required by two different authorities, for two different reasons.
Why there are two
The evidenční kniha (guest register) is required by the Czech Local Fees Act. It serves the municipality, so it can verify that you've correctly collected and paid the poplatek z pobytu (local tourist tax). The domovní kniha (house book) is required by the Act on the Residence of Foreigners. It serves the cizinecká policie (Foreign Police), so they know where each foreigner is staying.
Two laws, two authorities, two purposes. That's why you can't say “I keep one, and that covers both”. But you can say something else: both can be filled in from the same data, if you collect it correctly.
What goes into which
| Guest register (municipality) | House book (police) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is recorded | all guests, Czechs too, each on their own line, children too | foreigners only, meaning everyone without Czech citizenship, EU citizens too |
| Details | start and end of stay, first name and surname, registered address, date of birth, number and type of document, amount of tax or reason for exemption | the scope of the registration form: name, date of birth, citizenship, address abroad, document and visa number, purpose of stay, plus the actual start and end of the accommodation |
| Who checks it | the municipal office, in Prague the office of the city district | the Foreign Police during a residence inspection |
| Retention | 6 years from the last entry | 6 years from the last entry |
| Penalty | up to CZK 500,000 for a defective register plus additional tax assessment | up to CZK 50,000 |
Two details that surprise people. The guest register must include the type of document (passport, ID card), whereas the police report doesn't — there it's only the number. And for an exempt guest, the guest register must state the reason for exemption, not a zero. A child with no reason given is, for the municipality, a full taxpayer, and it will assess the tax on you.
When entries are made
Continuously, “in real time”. Not once a month from a platform export. When an inspection starts, you have to produce a register with the guests who are staying with you right now. Anyone who fills it in retroactively will never meet this condition.
The most natural moment is check-in. The guest shows you their document, you copy the details, done. Taking a photo of the document “just in case” is not a substitute for the entry — it's a GDPR violation, and for a Czech ID card it's a separate offense on top of that.
Paper or electronic?
Both are legal. The law talks about a “document” and requires the entries to be permanent and in chronological order. A paper register meets this by its nature; an electronic one has to be kept so that you can print it at any time and so that entries can't be rewritten retroactively without a trace. An Excel spreadsheet where anything can be changed is a weak spot during an inspection.
Six years from the last entry — not from departure
This is the most common mistake when deleting data. The period runs from the last entry in the register, not from a particular guest's stay. With a continuously kept register, it therefore moves forward with every new line. In practice, this means you can delete the register for 2026 in 2033 at the earliest, and only if you close it and start a new one. Once the period has expired, on the other hand, you must not keep the data — the legal basis no longer exists.
How I do it
The guest fills in their details in advance via a check-in link, including the type of document and the answer to the visa question. From the same data, a line is written to the guest register for the municipality, for a foreigner a line to the house book, and at the same time a report goes out to UbyPort (the Foreign Police reporting system). Both registers can be printed or exported for an inspection at any time, and nothing in them can be quietly rewritten. I've never had to figure out which one the inspector wants — I show both.
Marco, founder of Ubyo — He has been running apartments in Prague for over seven years and wrote Ubyo because he didn’t want to do any of this by hand.
For information only, not legal or tax advice — always discuss your specific situation with a professional. This article is a translation of the Czech original.
