Families with last year’s gross income of up to CZK 1 million will be able to apply for a CZK 5,000 child allowance from next week. The online application can be found on the ministry’s website or the new ministerial portal.

Electronic identity is required, i.e., a bank one. It is then possible to apply for the one-off benefit in person at Czech Points at town halls and regional offices.

The Labour Offices will start paying out the money at the end of August. The procedure was presented to journalists on Thursday by Karel Trpkoš, deputy minister for information technology, and Iva Merhautová (KDU-ČSL), deputy minister for social insurance and benefits.

1.6 million families

With a one-off benefit of CZK 5,000, the government wants to mitigate the impact of rising prices on families. Under the law, it is for households with a last year’s gross income of up to CZK 1 million per child under 18 on August 1. The state will also pay support for children who are yet to be born between August and the end of the year.

A child with permanent residence and domicile in the Czech Republic is entitled to CZK 5,000. The parents must live with the child and cover the costs.

Foreigners who have been living and working in the Czech Republic for a long time can also receive the allowance. It is also available to foster parents, spouses or partners of parents and widows and widowers of parents.

According to the ministry’s data, 1.1 million households are entitled to the benefit. About 1.6 million parents could receive the benefit. Of these, about 240,000 receive the allowance so that the family will receive the money automatically.

The department’s management expects others to claim the benefit mainly in the first ten days or the first month. It estimates that half of the claimants could use the application, and half will head to Czech Point.

Checking in advance

In the online form, which can be accessed through, for example, a bank identity, a mobile e-Government key, or a data box, people then have to enter their actual residential address if necessary. They also select how the money will be delivered and whether they want to communicate with the authorities, mainly by email or SMS.

They then fill in their children’s names, birth numbers, and their partner’s details or tick that they are single parents. Finally, they confirm in affidavits that the family income does not exceed one million and that the people mentioned live together.

If applicants are unsure whether their income is above the million thresholds, they can request an advance check. This will help them to avoid a possible repayment of the benefit. Officials will check the social security and tax contributions from the tax authorities data. For other applicants, they will check income retrospectively, Trpkoš said.

The deputy said that parents who apply for the benefit in Czech Pointe should only need an ID card and the children’s birth number. Foster parents and other caregivers should then take with them documents confirming their relationship to the child. A custody decision is needed. A copy can be uploaded to the online form, perhaps a snapshot of the document from a mobile phone.

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