Looking for info regarding registering a business in UK but operating in Poland

I was wondering if anybody had some information for me regarding operating a business in Poland.

I am a British citizen and I am looking to register as self employed here in the UK but I will be living and operating the business in Poland, is this possible?

Does anyone know to which country I would need to pay taxes to and would I still have to do my self assesement forms for the UK every year?

My sales would be in pounds sterling but my expenses would be in Polish zloty, therefore is it possible to get a foreign currency account.

I would appreciate as much help/info as possible.

Many thanks in advance.

Are you planning to open a sp. z o.o. here? If not, I don't see why you can't operate as self employed in the UK and just put your Polish expenses through your UK tax return as long as you meet the requirements for residency. The main thing you should clarify is VAT registration - Polish suppliers will have to charge you 22% VAT on most things which you won't be able to reclaim in the UK if you don't have a UK and Polish VAT number. Opening a bank account in Poland in PLN and sterling isn't a problem for a UK citizen.

Thanks for the reply. I have since spoken to the uK authorities and they have said that I would need to be resident in the UK for 6 months in order to register as self employed.

In that case, you could just open a UK Ltd company - registering here as self employed is doable but a lot of paperwork, and starting a Polish company is expensive.

I am looking into that. The reason why I am looking into registering here in the UK is due to the rules and regulations in Poland with regards to doing business in tourism. Thanks for you help.

There's something else to consider - Poland will expect you to pay taxes if you're declared resident. The 'personal allowances' are drastically lower in Poland than in the UK - and I would be very surprised if Poland has anything similar to the UK 'non-domicile' rules that you could exploit.

Nothing would stop you running a UK limited company while resident here, but you'll have to go through all the channels such as registering with ZUS and so on regardless. You may also find that many of the rules and regulations apply regardless as you'll be doing business in Poland.

Another quick question.

If I set up a UK ltd company, will I need to open up a branch office in Poland in order to conduct business?

On the whole you need not to set up a branch in Poland. But you have take into account that your business activity in Poland can be qualified by an polish tax office as a plant/ branch. In such case your profits gained in Poland have to be taxed in Poland. The are also other effects regarding VAT related to providing the tourism services in Poland.

The matter can be complicated and bring you problems in the future. So if you have any further questions contact me via email please (gregor_gajda@web.de).

No, but you will probably need to register for a Polish VAT number and NIP.

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