Non-seizable amount 2027: the higher subsistence minimum won't help debtors until January

Since 1 January 2026 a new way of calculating the non-seizable amount has applied to wage-garnishment and insolvency (debt-relief) deductions. 2027 will be its first real test: the individual subsistence minimum rose from CZK 4,860 to CZK 5,500 on 1 October 2026, but the new rules explicitly use the value valid as of 1 January of the given calendar year. The increase therefore has no effect at all on the non-seizable amount for 2026 — it will only help debtors starting with the December 2026 wage, if it is paid out in January 2027 (what matters is the payment date, not which month the wage is for). Here's how the non-seizable amount is calculated, why it works this way, and why the 2027 amount cannot yet be reliably determined. Update as of 11 October 2026: the increase of the subsistence minimum to CZK 5,500 from 1 October 2026 is in force (confirmed by MPSV). A major change: from 1 October 2026, Act No. 152/2026 Coll. changed how the normative rent is set. Instead of municipality-size categories it is now set for each district, and the act also repealed MPSV notice No. 526/2025 Coll. Government Regulation No. 595/2006 Coll., however, still refers to the rent "for a one-person household in a municipality with at least 70,000 inhabitants", a category the law no longer has. This changes nothing for 2026 deductions (the values as of 1 January 2026 apply). For 2027, though, the non-seizable amount cannot be reliably calculated until the regulation is amended. As of 11 October 2026 we found no draft amendment in official sources.

The reform (Government Regulation No. 548/2025 Coll., amending Government Regulation No. 595/2006 Coll., effective 1 January 2026) replaced the former "normative housing costs" with two new figures tied to the new state social assistance benefit:

For 2026: individual subsistence minimum CZK 4,860 + normative rent CZK 9,430 (MPSV notice No. 526/2025 Coll.) + energy allowance CZK 2,300 = CZK 16,590. The debtor's non-seizable amount is therefore CZK 14,101.50 a month, and the fully-seizable threshold is CZK 31,521.

The amendment explicitly requires using the subsistence minimum, normative rent and energy allowance as they stood on 1 January of the calendar year in which the wage is paid. What matters is therefore the actual payment date, not which month the wage is for — the December 2025 wage, paid only in January 2026, was already the first one calculated under the 2026 values. The non-seizable amount therefore stays the same all year, even if one of the underlying figures changes during it. According to the explanatory report this is meant to make things simpler and more predictable for employers and bailiffs; at the same time it means debtors' income protection temporarily lags behind the actual social situation (a point critics raised in the comment procedure).

This is exactly the rule that will be visible in full for the first time in 2027. The individual subsistence minimum rose to CZK 5,500 on 1 October 2026 (up CZK 640) — the date was set by Act No. 35/2026 Coll. (effective 31 March 2026), which postponed the originally planned date of 1 May 2026; the higher amounts themselves were introduced by Act No. 152/2025 Coll., the accompanying act to the benefits reform, which amended Act No. 110/2006 Coll. on the subsistence and existence minimum. None of this changes anything for 2026 deductions — only on 1 January 2027 does the new figure get "locked in" as the input for the whole of 2027. The other two figures are set differently:

With effect from 1 October 2026, Act No. 152/2026 Coll. rewrote Sections 28 and 29 of the State Social Assistance Benefit Act. The normative rent is no longer set for the categories "Prague and Brno", "municipality with at least 70,000 inhabitants" and "municipality up to 69,999 inhabitants", but for each district separately (Prague counting as one district). MPSV accordingly issued notice No. 169/2026 Coll. for 1 October to 31 December 2026, e.g. CZK 13,380 for a one-person household in Prague or CZK 11,331 in the Brno-město district. The previous notice No. 526/2025 Coll. was repealed by the act. Government Regulation No. 595/2006 Coll., however, has not changed. Section 1(1) still says the normative rent "for a one-person household in a municipality with at least 70,000 inhabitants" is used. From 1 October 2026 no such category exists in the law or in the MPSV notice.

We will update this article as soon as the government amends the regulation or the Ministry of Justice publishes the procedure for 2027.

Sources: MPSV — subsistence and existence minimum, Government Regulation No. 595/2006 Coll. (as amended by Government Regulation No. 548/2025 Coll., effective 1 January 2026) and the Ministry of Justice — wage deduction calculator; further Act No. 151/2025 Coll. on the state social assistance benefit and the accompanying Act No. 152/2025 Coll. (which amended Act No. 110/2006 Coll. on the subsistence and existence minimum), Act No. 35/2026 Coll. (postponing the effective date to 1 October 2026) MPSV notice No. 526/2025 Coll. (normative rent for 2026), Act No. 152/2026 Coll. (normative rent by district from 1 October 2026) and MPSV notice No. 169/2026 Coll. (normative rent for 1 October to 31 December 2026). Status verified as of 11 October 2026. Sections 278–279 of the Code of Civil Procedure govern the general rules on wage deductions, unchanged. Need to make sure you're calculating employee wage deductions and insolvency correctly? We are happy to help. You can work out the current figures directly in our wage garnishment calculator or insolvency payments calculator.