Law / May I keep personal money in a Polish business bank account? [3]

Hi BLS,
I could not tell you if it was legal or not but one thing did stand out with your situation. As the money is in a Business account, you might find it hard to explain to the Tax authorities should they ever do an audit on your business. I really dont know how often this happens so i dont want to scare you. As they would see money coming into account they may assume that it is from invoices issued and might be reluctant to believe that it is your personal money.

Is there anything stopping you from opening up a personal PLN/ZLT account?
Regards
vincent

UK, Ireland / Dublin city centre - interesting places to see [33]

Hi. i recommend you do the dublin bus tour. It brings you around all the major sights in dublin City and you can get off and back on again. This allows you to see the major sites and allows you to visit them if you are interested.

Real Estate / Interest Rates for Home loans In poland [39]

Andy B,
Thanks for the updated information on the interest rates.
Just a quick question...In relation to the EUR Libor, would it be better to be on the 3m libor rate or a 6 month libor rate? And do you know if banks would offer both options.

The reason why i ask is that i am on a 6m libor rate and it seems quite high. I know the rates have come down a fair bit over the past number of months so will be expecting a nice reduction in the next 6 months.

Real Estate / New Landlord - taxation on rental income [6]

Harry, thanks for the information on the rental stuff. One other thing about your mail...you said that the going rate for an accountant is 200 zlt? Is that correct? The only reason why i ask is that i am then being fleeced by my current accountant.

Life / English Books in Poznan [13]

Hi. There is a book store on the Rynek right beside DOM WIKINGDOW. they have an English Books section in there.

Law / What are some good websites to post offers for English lessons in Poland? [6]

Welcome to Poland robW90
I live in poznan but might i suggest some ways of getting your sevices out there:
- I allways see fliers attached to lamp posts etc advertising a nmber of services e.g. grinds, credit etc. Attached are little slips with phone numbers on it. I suggest that you write some of advertisiement in English so they know you are defintely a native speaker.

- Put up notices in your local shop and/or cofffee shops in the cetre of town. Try get the coffee shops where professionals go as they would be very interested in using a native speaker.

Best of luck.

Life / Is it difficult to survive in Warsaw without any Polish knowledge? [30]

Mephias,
From the times that i have been in warsaw, i would say that you can survive without polish on a day to day basis...a lot of people do speak english. In local shops, you can just point. Restaurants, bars, banks, estate agents etc normally have a few people who can speak English.

Where you will start to have problems is dealing with local authorities e.g. tax etc. You will need to bring a translator along with you. Also, any dealing over the phone can be abit of a nightmare.

If you are going to be here any lenght of time, it would probably make sense to learn some polish.
Best of luck.

Life / Driving lessons, poznan [12]

Hi. I would also be very interested in hearing of any schools. I have my license from ireland but have never driven in poland before so would like to get some lessons.

Law / Paying Tax For The Self-Employed In Poland (Yet more Questions...) [16]

Hi Seamus, do you mind me asking you where you are based? My accountant is fleecing me.

Just an additional point to Harry's excellent summary of the process...(it brought back so many memories of going through the process). As a self employed individaul, you get to pay a reduced level of ZUS for the first 2 years, (i think that is the time frame). After which, i think you have to pay about 800 pln a month. An accountant should tell you what you need to pay.

IANAUS - By the way, where are you going to be based? If in Wroclaw, i can give you the name of my interpreter who helped me set up my business ie. brought me around to all the offices.

Law / Copyright in Poland - Have to pay copyright for a design. [5]

Ok. thanks for all that. just wanted to make sure they werent pulling a fast one...or should i say, that they weren't pulling a fast one that they dont normally pull.

vincent

News / Polish news sites in English. [6]

Hi. You can also subscribe to New Warsaw Express nwe.pl (I think)...They send out a PDF every Friday with a summary of the news from the previous week. Also information from the local regions.

Travel / Wroclaw Town Hotel [7]

Also, try inyourpocket..They have hotels listed there based on price.

Travel / trendy clubs in warsaw ? [7]

From what i know about clubs in warsaw. the few you mention (excluding Extravaganza) would be considered very trendy. Never saw the attraction about Cinnamon though. Platinium is a very nicely designed bar. Though beware...as these bars are trendy, they are patronised by a fair share of rude individuals who think they are sooooo important.

Study / Excel Power point courses in Warsaw [3]

Zion,
I dont know of any in warsaw but i use an online training company for a load of online courses. They have Excel and Word as well. have a look at

totaltraining.com

If might be of use to you.
regards,
vincent

Work / Move to Warsaw and will teach English (advice needed) [23]

Hi Nando,
I am a fellow irish man in poland(not an english teacher) but know the set up to moving over here. Here are a few pointers, for what it is worth -

- If you are not working at the moment, it would probably make sense ot try and get the CELTA. AT least that way, you can hit the ground running.

- Also, if you were thinking about doing the Business English, you might see about preparing stuff for it now e.g. buy a few books and prepare handouts etc. From my time learning (trying to) polish, you get handed crap. And preparation of classes can take a while so if you have some free time, get some in early. If you want to do the business english, professional looking documents would go down well.

- Any chance you could give some english lessons in ireland as a bit of preparation. Firstly, you can use it as 'experience' when you apply for a job. Also, it gives you an idea as to what is involved in teaching english. I have given a few english lessons(in exchange for polish lessons) and you get asked questions you would never think of.

- If you were working in a holel, maybe you could prepare classes for staff dealing with customers. You could then sell you services to the hotels e.g Communicating with your customers in English...etc.

- Talk to delphiandomine about the 'CAllan' method...apparently, your only qualification required is an ability to speak english.

And in relation to livingi n Poland, i dont think you will regret it. I have been here 3 years and have no intentions about going back to the aul sod...

Best of luck

Vincent

Work / Move to Warsaw and will teach English (advice needed) [23]

Hi Nando,
I am kinda lucky in that at the moment i am actually working remotely for a company back in ireland. That was not the plan (did not really have one) but it worked out quite well. It is a contract gig and will likely be coming to an end by the end of the year. It is testing software. When that finishes i intend to develop something on my own around online training. Will have to wait and see how that goes.

Regard,
vincent

Life / 1st ex-pat assignment advice needed about settling down in Warsaw. [16]

hi Ceaton, Just wondering if you have found an apartment yet? If not, i have one coming free next week. I am not sure what i want to do with it as i may be moving to warsaw early next year. So if you wanted it for a month or two while you get settled, i am sure we could come to some agreement. Its 77 sq m, 2 bedroomed, in Zoliborz area.

Life / 1st ex-pat assignment advice needed about settling down in Warsaw. [16]

Eh....not quite...!! :-)..


Not really unforunately...was able to buy a few years ago..doubt i could do it now.

Life / Top 3 Most Important Things about which polish dentists will LIE to you bigtime [46]

Hi DNZ....could you pass on the details here as well as i need to go get my teeth checked.

I did go to a few dentists 2 years back and each had something different to say.

Work / ZUS rates for self employed [9]

Yep...ZUS is a killer. If the introductory rate has gone up to 330pln, do you know what the 800 pln has gone up to?

Life / Is private health insurance necessary in Poland? [9]

Hi. Not sure about clinics which are free....Can I ask are you working? if you are working you should be paying ZUS which entitles you to access to the public health system. This can be very hit and miss and you may have to wait depending on what might be wrong with you.

In relation to private care, there are a load of private health clinics around. Word of warning, just because they are private, does not always mean they are better...most of the doctors who work here are from the public health service. That is not to say they are all bad but like anywhere in the world, there are good and bad doctors. i had to visit a number of these places last year, and the diagnosis i got from each one was very differrent.

A lot of these private hospitals have schemes where you can pay a month charge and it entitles you to certain amount of visits etc. unfortunately, i dont know the costs.

Life / Is private health insurance necessary in Poland? [9]

By the way, How long are you coming for? You might be able to apply for the European health card which means residents from one EU country is entitled to free medical treatment in another EU Country. I am not sure of the details but it might be a runner if you are not in a position to pay for private health care.

Work / ZUS rates for self employed [9]

Thanks for the link.
Regards,
vincent

Life / How much will I pay for a dedicated Server in Poland? Web hosts. [10]

Thanks for those links..the az.pl one is great. Very good english site.

Work / Customs in workplace in Poland [11]

Yeah. It could probably be applied to a lot of offices around the place. I don't want to ruin their fun but boy, it is tiring... I definitely see an opening for 'effective communication' in Poland.. :-)

Work / Customs in workplace in Poland [11]

Actually, i politely asked to move desk..and they are facilitating me. I should say that i have worked in open plan offices all my life and never had a problem. The people who are in my room are very nice but boy, do they make a lot of noise in pursuit of their daily jobs. :-)

Law / Law relating to taking finger prints in poland [8]


Somehow i dont think anyone will want to get into the swimming pool that much.