Datová schránka

Under Czech law

Data boxes are regulated by Act No. 300/2008 Sb. They are mandatory for companies, and since 2023 also for entrepreneurs (OSVČ); individuals can opt in. Documents delivered into a data box are legally delivered when an authorised person logs in — or, crucially, on the tenth day after delivery even if nobody ever logs in (fikce doručení, § 17 odst. 4). Deadlines for appeals, tax filings and court responses start running from that moment.

Messages sent from a data box to an authority meet written-form and signature requirements (§ 18); for businesses, tax filings must generally go electronically once a data box exists (daňový řád, § 72 odst. 6).

A practical example

An OSVČ ignores the data box set up for him by law. A payment assessment from the tax office is delivered into it in March; the ten-day fiction runs, the 30-day appeal window opens and closes, and the first he learns of any of it is an execution on his bank account in June. Every step was formally flawless.

When you need a lawyer

After a fiction-of-delivery accident: limited remedies exist (navrácení v předešlý stav, applications to set aside), but their windows are short and conditions strict. Preventively, a lawyer or accountant monitoring the box is the boring solution that avoids the dramatic problem.