Site Search:
 
Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Starting a business in Poland - Info
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Poland
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
simon_porter00



Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 505
Location: Warsaw, Poland

PostPosted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 8:35 pm    Post subject: Starting a business in Poland - Info Reply with quote

**
The rules below to people from within the EEA (European Economic Area). Those from outside the EEA can only apply for one of 4 types of business. Please see part 3 of this link:
http://www.paiz.gov.pl/index/?id=4f8bc5ac1dc2b49434efe9e72f183de8
**

All these steps must be done in this order as you'll need original documents and photocopies

Number 1)
This is number 1 because it takes 4 weeks to come through if you haven't got it.
You'll need a NIP number, which should automatically be created if you're working under a umowa o dzieło at a school (unless they're operating a dodge). The school should have this info. If they don't tell them that you're starting your own business thereby making their life easier so they'd better sort you out with one.

Number 2)
You'll be setting yourself up as an entrepreneur:

http://www.paiz.gov.pl/index/?id=866d90e0921ac7b024b47d672445a086

Go to your local council offices for the area in which you live to fill the form out. It takes about 5 min. 3 to 4 days later you get something in the post or you can pick up your Zaświadczenie o wpisie do ewidencji działalności gospodarczej. Basically a doument telling you details about what your business is, who owns it, where it;s registered etc.

Number 3)
You'll then need a REGON number which is found at the GUS office or Głowny Urząd Statystyczny office. This process was, for me, quite quick - 30 min or so.

Useful thing to do now:
Get a business stamp set up. Without a stamp you're nothing - seriously. It needs to include, your name, address, company name, NIP and REGON. This will take a day or two to get.
You might as well get some business cards done at the same time.

Number 4)
You need to file some papers at the ZUS office. You only have seven days in which to do this (from memory) either way you need to do it asap.
These will detail ZUS payment that you will make.

Then.
You need to update your NIP number from personal to business activity at the tax office (Urząd Skarbowy).

You will not need a business bank account **please see discussion later on in this thread**

These are the basics. Assuming you get the NIP, the business is good to go from the moment you get your first document through i.e. 3 days.

A good accountant will help you no end and will also tell you about the options that you have available re paying taxes monthly or quaterly etc etc. Doing this on your own is madness. I did it with the wife (she a trainee tax consultant and a Polish native) and we just scraped by finding out we had to do things by last week etc. I could not have done this on my own.

The wife says that you don't need to be registered to set up a business and I don't remember having to show my registration card, however I'd take this with a pinch of salt as it is bound to come up at some point. I'd ask a qualified accountant if this is necessary or not.

Once again, this is just a quick guide and I don't want to be held responsible for any of the information given here. I've done this to be helpful.

If anyone has got any stories re theie registration process please post to tell us about it.


Last edited by simon_porter00 on Wed Nov 05, 2008 8:30 pm; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
dynow



Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080

PostPosted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thank you simon porter.

not that i mind helping others on this forum, but i was getting tired of posting and re-posting the same responses to the same questions. it's such a common issue these days in poland, this thread should be in bold, highlighted, blinking, italicized, maybe even a siren..........and kept at the head of the Poland discussion forum menu.

i haven't read through it word for word, but it seems pretty thorough.

good job.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ayahyaha



Joined: 11 Oct 2008
Posts: 69
Location: Prague, Czech Republic

PostPosted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 10:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is some of the specific info I've been waiting/hoping for since I decided to come to Poland. Thank you so much for taking the time.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
the new guy



Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 127

PostPosted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Simon, great info.

I started a thread weeks ago about this very topic. I have a few questions
1- are you an EU national?
2-are you and American citizen living in PL?
3-did you start and LLC or joint partnership with your wife?

the answers to all of these questions will directly affect what form of business is available to start for nationals from different countries living in PL.

I'm a Canadian(unmarried&loving it) and since there is no agreements in place between PL and Canada, i am forced to open an LLC. As doing so, there are many similar steps, but many different ones, including a 2000zl visit to a Notariusz with a sworn translator to sign my business contract, 1500-2000zl for my lawyers office to draft all the papers i need to have in order to make an entry in the register.

It's a tall order doing this for a teaching business, but I plan to have a retail business starting next year, so this step is out of the way
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
simon_porter00



Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 505
Location: Warsaw, Poland

PostPosted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm an EU national hailing from England, so the civil partnership is open to me. If you're from outside the EEA, you have to form one of four types of businesses as you said. Have a look at part 3 of this link:

http://www.paiz.gov.pl/index/?id=4f8bc5ac1dc2b49434efe9e72f183de8

It would be of some value to a lot of the people here if you could document the steps you go through in order to set up a LLC. I wish I had acted with a little more foresight back in January in terms of writing everything down.

I know however, how frustrating it is doing this in the dark, so good luck to you.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Harry from NWE



Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Posts: 283

PostPosted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 2:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Starting a business in Poland - Info Reply with quote

simon_porter00 wrote:
You will not need a business bank account unless you earn (or plan to earn) over 30k EUR a month - they were the figures when i set up my business in January this year.


How are you paying your tax? I was told by the tax office that they would only accept payments from a business bank account.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Richfilth



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 225
Location: Warszawa

PostPosted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

An excellent write-up and I'm pleased to see it's been sticky'd as well.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
simon_porter00



Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 505
Location: Warsaw, Poland

PostPosted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:25 pm    Post subject: Re: Starting a business in Poland - Info Reply with quote

Harry from NWE wrote:
How are you paying your tax? I was told by the tax office that they would only accept payments from a business bank account.


From my regular bank account. I've been paying my tax quaterly, so 3 times to date and I've heard nothing from the tax office to say that i'm doing something wrong. I'll check it out with the Mrs when she gets back to see where the provision is in tax law.

EDIT:
Right it all comes down to an interpretation of the law apparently. The tax office takes its view from banking law that says a savings account cannot be used as a bank account for an entrepreneur. Thus, the tax office say you must have a business banking account. Most current accounts however are spending/saving accounts (like the one i have) and so we believe that we're OK to use that. We'll have a chat with the bank tomorrow for clarification on this. Or, if anyone can chat to their accountant please let me know.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Harry from NWE



Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Posts: 283

PostPosted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:52 am    Post subject: Re: Starting a business in Poland - Info Reply with quote

simon_porter00 wrote:
The tax office takes its view from banking law that says a savings account cannot be used as a bank account for an entrepreneur. Thus, the tax office say you must have a business banking account. Most current accounts however are spending/saving accounts (like the one i have) and so we believe that we're OK to use that. We'll have a chat with the bank tomorrow for clarification on this. Or, if anyone can chat to their accountant please let me know.


I checked with mine a while back: she said that it is necessary to have a business account. So did my bank. So did the partner who leads the tax practice here.

Remember that your opinion is of no importance to the tax office. You should probably apply to them for a ruling as to whether or not you can use your particular bank account to pay your taxes from.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
simon_porter00



Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 505
Location: Warsaw, Poland

PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The problem is: the tax regulations say that you need to do a money transfer through a bank account i.e. tax and ZUS irrespective of value. The tax regs however, don't say what kind of bank account has to be used. So the tax authorities interpreted it in the way you need a special company bank account. This obligation doesn't come from nor result from special regulations/laws as regards ZUS or the banking code.

The Mrs has finished with her fact finding mission and found the following:
She first of all phoned up the national tax information hotline (krajowe informacie podatkowe) who said the Tax regulations don't say anything about having a specialised bank account (for entrepreneurs, i assume). They suggested we contact the bank (Millenium) and ZUS to see if they have any regulations that prevent a person using a personal bank account for business.

The bank said that there are no restrictions on using a current account for a business bank account (not a saving account).

ZUS said as long as the payments are made with a NIP number and REGON number they have no problems. Millenium (and this isn't an advert for them btw) allows for you to include both sets of details on money transfers. For the tax office the NIP number is the most important.

In practise, I shall open another current bank account to seperate the companies flow of money from my personal finances to keep on top of things. I won't be getting a business bank account on the basis of the info above and if I get any grief, I shall let you all know.

NB. Please note (again) this is not a definitive guide, merely my experience. For detailed advice about tax etc please consult qualified people.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Richfilth



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 225
Location: Warszawa

PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For those in Warsaw who can't make themselves understood at the local ratusz:

http://um.warszawa.pl/v_syrenka/bdg/formularze.php

You can now fill in the part Simon outlines in part 2 online, as well as check the status of pending applications
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Blasphemer



Joined: 03 Dec 2008
Posts: 199
Location: NYC/Warszawa

PostPosted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've read this article about the PKD code as well, something that you must get prior to the REGON� something to do with the classification or the actual business type...

I'm not sure if any of you guys read Polish, if you need it translated I'll be more than happy but here is the article:

http://www.rp.pl/artykul/82972,228804_Bez_kodu_PKD_firma_nie_moze_funkcjonowac.html

Supposedly � (according to this article), you have up until the end of 2009 to apply for this new code and update your info.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
hrvatski



Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Posts: 270

PostPosted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So starting a business sets you up to pay ZUS, but does it have any other benefits (apart from the fact that some schools won't employ you without it)?

I heard recently that newly set up businesses can apply for a 13,000 zł 'kick start', have you looked into that?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Harry from NWE



Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Posts: 283

PostPosted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hrvatski wrote:
So starting a business sets you up to pay ZUS, but does it have any other benefits (apart from the fact that some schools won't employ you without it)?


You only pay 19% tax and can deduct lots of things from your taxable income.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
the new guy



Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 127

PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm non EU and have almost completed my Spolka Komandytowa process. I will be in the Court registry on Friday to register it. I will be giving a full breakdown of what I had to do once it is all done.

just a thought....If you are NON EU, you will need to find a Pole to create your SK. There is no alternative.

You will need about 3500-4500zl to get this SK completed.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Poland All times are GMT
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8  Next
Page 1 of 8

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

Teaching Jobs in China
Teaching Jobs in China