Real estate tax in the budgets of Czech municipalities

The Czech Republic is characterized by a very fragmented settlement structure, characterized by many small municipalities (up to a thousand inhabitants). One of the few ways to increase the amount of funds in the municipal budget is the introduction of a local coefficient according to 12, Act No. 338/1992 Coll. on real estate tax. The paper evaluates the role of real estate tax in 2013-2020 from three perspectives: 1) according to the role of real estate tax (DzNV) in the budgets of municipalities in the Czech Republic; 2) according to the number of established local coefficients according to the size structure of municipalities; 3) according to the number of established local coefficients in municipalities within the territorial jurisdiction of the region of the Czech Republic in which the municipality is located. The analysis show that the share of the tax decreases in the observed period, although the collection of real estate tax itself increases over time. The number of introduced local coefficients in municipalities in the monitored period increased by 2.2% and the highest average growth rate in introduction was found in municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants. The regional comparison showed that the most frequently used local coefficient has the value "2", but the share of municipalities with the established local coefficient is not comparable in the regions. The municipalities within the Central Bohemian Region most often introduce a higher local coefficient, while the smallest share is observed in municipalities in the Pardubice Region.