To open a private gym in Czechia, you notify free trade no. 74 (operating sports facilities), check that the premises may be used as a gym, settle your DPH status with an accountant and post house rules at the door. Sparekey then takes care of the rest: customers book a slot, pay online through GoPay with a card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or their bank’s payment button, and get a door code by SMS. Czechia is our home market. Chrám pohybu and Fithub run on Sparekey here. Setup costs CZK 24,900 one-off, and Operations costs CZK 1,200 a month.
The trade: renting the room vs. training clients
Running a gym that customers rent by the hour is free trade field no. 74, “Provozování tělovýchovných a sportovních zařízení a organizování sportovní činnosti”. It explicitly covers renting a fitness room to consumers for their own use, and it needs no qualification. The first trade notification costs CZK 1,000 at any trade office or online through the single registration form.
Training clients is a different, bound trade (živnost vázaná) that needs a qualification: a sports degree, a professional qualification (profesní kvalifikace) or an accredited retraining course. Many owners do both. You can also let trainers with their own licence work in your gym. In Sparekey, you block your own training hours so nobody else can book them.
A sole trader (OSVČ) starts fastest. An s.r.o. limits your liability but needs a notarial deed and an entry in the commercial register. Your accountant can compare the two for your expected revenue.
Premises and hygiene
The gym is a provozovna (business premises). Notify the trade office before you open there, unless the address was already in your trade notification. Mark it visibly from outside with your name, IČO, the person responsible and the opening hours.
Before you sign a lease, ask the landlord or the building office (stavební úřad) whether the approved use of the space covers a gym. An office or shop unit sometimes needs a change of use.
A room with weights and machines has no special approval procedure at the regional public health authority (KHS). A sauna, plunge pool, massage or solarium does. If you plan any of these, ask your KHS before you build.
DPH (VAT)
Use of sports facilities for sport is on the list of services at the reduced rate of 12%. Personal training or renting the room for something other than sport, such as a photo shoot, may be at 21%. Have your tax adviser confirm the rate for your exact offer before you set prices.
You only charge DPH once you are a VAT payer. That happens from 1 January after a year with turnover above CZK 2,000,000, or the day after turnover passes CZK 2,536,500 within a year. Many small gyms start below the threshold.
Payments: GoPay, cards, bank buttons and QR
We set up GoPay, the gateway Czech customers know from e-shops. It covers every method they use:
| Method | What the customer does |
|---|---|
| Card (Visa, Mastercard) | Enters the card on the payment page |
| Apple Pay, Google Pay | Confirms on the phone |
| Bank button | Logs in to their own bank (Česká spořitelna, ČSOB, KB, Air Bank, Fio, Moneta and others) |
| QR payment | Scans the code in the banking app |
The GoPay account is in your company’s name, so payouts go straight to your bank account in CZK. GoPay checks your business before it activates the account. Have a live website with your terms, contact details and prices ready, because the approval is usually the longest step of setup. Setting up GoPay and the Czech booking pages is part of setup.
EET 2.0 from 1 January 2027
Electronic sales records return as EET 2.0 on 1 January 2027. According to the tax administration (Finanční správa), what counts is how the customer pays:
- Online payment through a gateway before the visit is a remote payment. It is not recorded in EET 2.0.
- Cash or card at the gym is a contact payment and must be recorded. This includes a card terminal, a QR code on the wall or a Multisport card at the door.
When every booking is paid online in advance, those payments stay outside EET 2.0. Money you take on site is recorded.
Invoices for customers and companies
Sparekey issues an invoice for every paid booking automatically and exports a CSV file for your accountant. We set up the numbering, the DPH rate and your company details during setup. If you are not a VAT payer, the invoices simply show no DPH.
Door access
We recommend a 2N keypad with a maglock, installed by a professional door installer. It is built for unattended operation and is hard to tamper with. Nuki is the simpler and cheaper alternative. It mounts on the existing door lock, but it cannot be secured as well against customers tampering with it. Sparekey costs the same for both.
Each booking gets its own time-limited PIN, valid only for the booked time. It is sent by SMS right after booking. A stored backup code covers internet outages, so nobody is left at the door. Shared building entrances or several doors are solved during setup at no extra cost. See 2N keypad and maglock and Nuki.
Cameras and house rules
A camera in an unstaffed gym falls under the GDPR. You do not register it with the data protection authority (ÚOOÚ), but you keep a record of processing, set a retention period and put a sign with the key information at the entrance. Keep changing rooms, showers and toilets out of view. See cameras in an unstaffed gym.
Post house rules (provozní řád) at the entrance: who may enter on a booking, how to use the equipment, what to do after an injury and how to report a fault. Start from our house rules template.
A consumer cannot withdraw from a booking of a leisure service for a specific date, so the 14-day withdrawal right does not apply to slots. Your terms decide cancellations. In Sparekey, customers can move their booking themselves up to 24 hours ahead.
What Sparekey costs in Czechia
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Setup (one-off) | CZK 24,900 |
| Operations (hosting, maintenance and SMS sender name) | CZK 1,200 / month |
| Door-code SMS | CZK 1.25 per message |
Sparekey is not a VAT payer, so no DPH is added. You pay in CZK by bank transfer. Setup includes GoPay, Czech booking pages and invoices, and all your locations. More on pricing and how setup works.
FAQ
Is a private gym a free trade in Czechia?
Yes. Operating the gym and renting it by the hour is free trade no. 74. Training clients is a separate bound trade that needs a qualification.
Do I have to record online payments in EET 2.0?
Not payments made online through the gateway before the visit. Cash and payments taken at the gym are recorded.
Which DPH rate applies to renting a gym by the hour?
Use of sports facilities for sport is at 12%. Training or non-sport use may be at 21%. You only charge DPH once you are a VAT payer.