Your insurer and your employer may pay part of your training

Most of the people I train have no idea their health insurer offers money towards exercise every year. At most insurers it's a few hundred crowns, and whatever you don't claim expires at the end of the year.

How much there is

Insurers’ contributions in 2026, enlarge

Under the 2026 rules the amounts differ a lot between insurers. VZP gives an adult up to 500 CZK for exercise and dental hygiene combined, split as you like. OZP pays according to the credits you collect in its Vitakarta app. The cap is 10,000 CZK a year per programme, but how much you get depends on your credits. The others give 500 to 700 CZK: VoZP and ČPZP 700 CZK, RBP 700 CZK through its my213 app (without the app only people over 60, 500 CZK), ZPŠ and ZPMV 500 CZK, ZPŠ with its Karta mého srdce 700 CZK. RBP always pays at most half of the price, ČPZP wants receipts adding up to at least 1,500 CZK and ZPMV an activity worth at least 800 CZK.

Two things are worth knowing. The amounts change every year, so check your own insurer's website rather than this article. And all insurers only pay the contribution to people who have had a preventive check-up with their GP in the last two years (two and a half at ZPŠ). They check it themselves, so you do not need to bring any proof. A recent check-up, however, only becomes visible to the insurer after two to three months, and if you have recently switched insurers, you may need a confirmation from your doctor.

What they accept

Insurers pay for regular, long-term activity, such as a season pass, a course or a membership, although ZPŠ does not accept membership fees. Some of them do not pay for a one-off entry, and hardly any pay for renting a hall or a court, online programmes, or anything you pay for with a MultiSport card.

Insurers neither list personal training among the activities they support nor exclude it, so the only way to be sure is to ask your insurer, and to do so before you pay, not after.

What the receipt must say

What the receipt must show, enlarge

This is where a claim most easily goes wrong. The receipt has to show what the activity was, how much it cost, when it was paid, who provided it and who it was for. That means the provider's company ID (IČ) and your name as the insured person. A receipt that says “services” will not do. VZP also wants it to be no more than six months old, and other insurers often accept only three months.

I issue such a receipt for my clients. If you want one, just ask.

Your employer is the second pocket

Many employers pay for exercise from a benefits budget. If they pay the provider directly, rather than into your account, you pay no tax on it in 2026 up to 24,483 CZK a year, and that limit is shared with all your other leisure benefits, such as culture or holidays. In the civil service and state-funded organisations it often goes through the fund for cultural and social needs.

Few people ask, because they assume it's only for a gym membership. It's worth asking HR.

What to do

1. Look up your insurer's website and find what they give and what they want.
2. Ask at work whether exercise can be covered.
3. Ask me for a receipt.

On paper, most insurers take applications for this year's contribution until 30 November, online VZP, ZPMV and VoZP until the end of the year. At ČPZP and ZPŠ the end of November applies, so a receipt from December comes too late there.

Sources: VZP (General Health Insurance Company), conditions for drawing contributions from the prevention fund for 2026. OZP (Industry Health Insurance Company), programmes for credits (2026). VoZP, ČPZP, ZPŠ, ZPMV and RBP, contributions towards exercise for 2026. Act No. 586/1992 Coll., on Income Taxes, Section 6(9)(d). Government Regulation No. 365/2025 Coll.