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sadcliffefall
Joined: 02 Nov 2005
Posts: 14
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 Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 9:38 am Post subject: Paying tax in Poland for EU citizens? |
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| Hi there and thanks for the advice or information in advance. I have a question about paying tax in Poland. I am an EFL teacher and an EU citizen and am wondering if my employer should be giving me a receipt of the tax I pay from my wages. Moreover, on a short-term contract, is one entitled to claim back any tax paid upon leaving Poland? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks |
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cezarek
Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 149
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| Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 1:17 pm Post subject: Re: Paying tax in Poland for EU citizens? |
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| sadcliffefall wrote: |
| Hi there and thanks for the advice or information in advance. I have a question about paying tax in Poland. I am an EFL teacher and an EU citizen and am wondering if my employer should be giving me a receipt of the tax I pay from my wages. Moreover, on a short-term contract, is one entitled to claim back any tax paid upon leaving Poland? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks |
You employer should give you either a pay slip, or more probably a rachunek - if you're employed on umowa o dzielo, as most (legal) teachers are. You should should apply for a NIP number (your employer will help you if they're any good). This will take up to six months to arrive, but your employer doesn't need to wait for that. They can pay you right from the start, while you're waiting for the NIP (they pay it on your name/d.o.b/address etc, and supply the number when it arrives) and any language school who claim otherwise and 'withold' your wages because you have no NIP are lying and best avoided. Certain 'schools' have been using that old trick for ages.
The pay slip will record the amount of tax that has been deducted from your wage. You will need to keep that for your tax return.
Now it gets complicated. You can only claim money back if you have overpaid. This is unlikely in Poland since the tax calculation system is very precise and overpayments are usually either very small, or relate to spousal income. You can however offset earnings that you have paid tax on against any UK tax liability for that year if applicable. If you are on a short term contract (i.e. out of the UK for less than 6 months) this may be the appropriate solution. If you are out of UK for longer than 9 months in any tax year, you are non-resident, and not necessarily liable for UK taxation during that year. You should be able to claim something back, though earnings elsewhere in the EU can be taken into account on a case by case basis.
I've never heard of anybody successfully claiming tax back when they leave Poland, though I know of people who say they ought to have been able to. Bear in mind that if you are here for only a short time, and are paying UK tax as a UK resident, you may be able to claim back vat on purchases made here. Check with any of the companies who manage refunds.
It should be said that the system is constantly changing, and the interpretation of the law by one clerk at the tax office may be different to that of the person sat next to them. |
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Alex Shulgin
Joined: 20 Jul 2003
Posts: 553
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| Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 3:57 pm Post subject: Re: Paying tax in Poland for EU citizens? |
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[quote="cezarek"]
| sadcliffefall wrote: |
| You can only claim money back if you have overpaid. This is unlikely in Poland since the tax calculation system is very precise and overpayments are usually either very small, or relate to spousal income. |
There is a flaw in the tax system in Poland for people who work on umowa o dzielo. Every school just deducts the flat tax rate of 16% from your pay packet. But the first 3500PLN you make a year are tax free. So it is a good idea to complete a tax return as you can claim back the 16% of that money. You paid tax on it but didn't need to. Will cost about 100PLN to have an accountant complete the return for you and you'll come out of the deal about 500PLN to the good. Worth having! |
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cezarek
Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 149
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| Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Alex is right about the 3500zl. I would add that if you work for a language school which has a bookeeper working in the office, s/he will probably do your tax claim for 50-100zl plus some flowers. Given Polish bookeepers' wages, s/he will probably be very pleased to do it. |
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Setanta
Joined: 01 Jun 2003
Posts: 21
Location: Tarnow, Poland
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:48 pm Post subject: dont pay tax |
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Depending on what country you're from, Poland should have a double taxation agreement with them. This means you pay tax in your country of origin.
If you're from the UK it means you have to earn more than the UK basic allowance to have to pay tax. Not many working here do.
This agreement lasts if you stay for two years. In order to prevent double taxation, you need a certificate from your local tax office. If you're employer's any good they should be able to handle the paperwork here. It means they don't have to deduct taxes from your salary. |
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Setanta
Joined: 01 Jun 2003
Posts: 21
Location: Tarnow, Poland
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Dawidek
Joined: 25 May 2006
Posts: 8
Location: Rybnik
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| Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Dear Setanta, Thank you for the useful tip and link! Much obliged! |
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sadcliffefall
Joined: 02 Nov 2005
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 9:50 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for all the help - it is greatly appreciated. What if I am only working for a few months and it takes six months for the NIP to arrive? And if the first 3,500 PLN are tax free then does it not follow that I shouldn't have paid any tax for my first month's salary which was 3380 PLN? I have not been given a rachunek or a print-out with the company name - just a slip of paper that anyone could print from a computer. |
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