Job Discussion Forums

[Master Shake]

So the honeymoon is over.

My two years of 'preferred rate ZUS' (around 300-400zl/mo.) are up and my monthly payment has shot up to near 1000zl/mo.. This is a flat-rate, mandatory payment (so my accountant tells me) which is something like throwing money into a gaping black hole - I will recieve virtually no benefit from paying unless I pay into it for ump-teen years and retire here.

A couple ideas I've heard of:

1) I know some people who've closed their Polish company and opened a company in the UK to avoid paying this hefty sum. Perhaps this is do-able in other countries as well (e.g the USA by filing a DBA)?

2) I've also heard rhumors that you can re-open the Polish company again (under a new name, of course) and start fresh with two years of lower ZUS.

Any other ideas or explaination appreciated. Aside from the two long-shots above, people are basically telling me to just suck it up and pay. But it's worth a shot.

[sparks]

I think that the two year honeymoon is the average time that it takes an EFL teacher to FIND A WIFE !!!!!

[dynow]

[simon_porter00]

hang on a second, another genuinely informative and helpful post from Dynow helping those who might be in the same situation maybe think about the avenues they have open to them. A nice helpful word to gently push someone in the right direction. An arm around the shoulder.


.....


Nope, another pointless, bitching post about Poland from someone who doesn't live here now which achieves nothing apart from reinforce the fact that you have absolutely nothing useful to say.

Well done that man.


Now the OP.
Yup, honeymoon is over, my honeymoon has been over since 2010 and in that time I've built a house, had a child, own two cars (although admittedly one of them is a bucket) AND I know that you earn more than me .... I'm sure you'll survive and not fall into the penniless existence scraping by in milk bars as some would have you believe.

Regarding the UK, this is (and this'll come as no surprise) a bit of a dodge as in order to have a company in the Uk and work in Poland (which is quite legal) you have to be resident in the UK for a minimum of 3 months. The reason why everyone does this UK company option is that HMRC (or whatever it's called now) is very lazy at checking and it transpires that 'residency' might just mean having a address in the UK. This is easy enough and if you go through one of the Polish companies willing to do this for you it'll cost you peanuts, although if you know anyone in the UK you could just as easily do it yourself.

The problem is if HMRC stops being lazy and discovers you (and the million other Poles) you might have a bill to pay in the UK.

The other issue is that it might involve a trip to the UK, which isn't part of the schengen, but that they do like investigating unusualities in people's passports. Jack had a bit of an issue with this and had to sweet talk his way back into the schengen and he had a KP at the time too.

[Master Shake]

I haven't been scoping out the best dumpsters in preparation for paying the higher ZUS. I'll manage just fine. But paying an additional 600-700zl a month for no benefit is something I'd like to avoid, if possible.

Does anyone working here in PL have a company based somewhere else? If so, what was involved in setting it up and how much tax do you pay?

I think it would make more sense for me to set up a business in the US as I actually go back there about once a year.

[delphian-domine]

[quote="simon_porter00]Nope, another pointless, bitching post about Poland from someone who doesn't live here now which achieves nothing apart from reinforce the fact that you have absolutely nothing useful to say. [/quote]

Par for the course. He was a miserable failure in Poland (look at all the posts about taking trams in winter, not being able to afford a car, living in a cramped apartment) and seems to believe that everyone is like that. He also has made it very clear that he didn't exactly marry into a...good family, shall we say. His bitterness is just oh-so-obvious.

Anyway, helpful post time -

Basically, the dodge involving Polish companies is a dangerous game to play. It's based upon an interpretation of the EU rules that say that you can only pay social insurance in one country at one time - so if you're paying social insurance contributions in the UK, it means you can't (legally) pay them in Poland and therefore you're exempt from paying the majority of ZUS (everything except healthcare).

It doesn't mean that you set up a business there - you still have your Polish business. There are ways to set up a business there too, but if you're caught, ZUS can legally hammer you for everything that you should have paid in Poland to that date. This latest dodge has you self employed in Poland, "working" for a UK company that sends you invoices from a different company - and they use the cash from you to "hire' you in the UK.

But before I go on - it's worth stressing that as long as there's an agreement between Poland and your new country of choice, you can transfer the ZUS contributions at a later date. It can add up, especially in countries where it's based upon years worked rather than money paid in.

[quote=Master Shake]I think it would make more sense for me to set up a business in the US as I actually go back there about once a year.[/quote]

Could be, depends on the amount of taxation. You could also open up an offshore company in - for instance - Delaware - and merely pay 19% dividends on your income every year to the Polish taxman.

The most efficient and legal method seems to be to open a limited liability company in a no-tax jurisdiction, use that to invoice schools, then pay the Polish taxman 19% in dividends. With this method, you need to be ultra-careful to keep proper records for the Polish taxman - every time you bring money from the company, you need to keep record so you can pay the tax at the end of the year. It may even be possible to open a Polish bank account for this purpose - you're in Warsaw, so it might just be possible.

But there may still be issues with residency - I don't know if Polish law will require you to open up a branch office in Poland and pay local taxes on top.

There is apparently a treaty with Cyprus that results in an effective 9.5% tax rate, but I'm not sure of the exact details.

EDIT : the Cyprus route is out as of the end of the year.

[dynow]

[delphian-domine]

[simon_porter00]

[Master Shake]

Delphian, if you have links to the relevant literature on this, I'd love to see them.

[delphian-domine]

[dynow]

[delphian-domine]

[hrvatski]

Simon - do you plan on going for Polish citizenship at any stage? Do 3 years married get you there?

[dynow]