Law / What are chances for Poland to join in Eurasian Economic Community? [100]

Tito protected the Yugoslavian people against that maniac Stalin
so in spite of Stalin's attempts to assassinate Tito, Russia was not successful in meddling in the running
of Yugoslavia like it did in Poland

Your warm feelings towards Russia may well be due to the fact that Yugoslavia never really sufferred under Russia post WWII

I would be interested to hear your views and what your opinion of Tito was

History / Interesting memorial about 212 Polish soldiers [18]

that was nice of them

particularly as only 19 years earlier the Poles had fought the British

Love / Help me understand the different mannerisms and mentality of men in Przemysl area! [28]


not a bad idea at the time
the alternative would have been to put up a big sign, preferably written in German inviting the Hun to help themselves to the oil

note to self: I am starting to sound like Bertie Wooster more and more

Love / Help me understand the different mannerisms and mentality of men in Przemysl area! [28]

quite possibly she learned this anti British sentiments from her male consort

in that case, they are well suited to each other

in Cumbria there is a saying 'they won't spoil two households'

I love that expression and try to use it whenever I can

UK, Ireland / Getting the most from my hard earned money (transfer money from England to Poland) [41]


I know how it works for Brits living in Poland. If your UK parents croak and want to leave you something, you are at the mercy of probate and the money goes to the UK tax man irrespective of where you are living, which is a real downer as I do not believe that there are death duties in Poland

UK, Ireland / Getting the most from my hard earned money (transfer money from England to Poland) [41]


thanks mate, you have made my day
I will check with the company accountant dweeb


I tried to explain it to him twice, then gave up.

Travel / Early churches (built 700-1000 years ago) in Poland? [25]

there are some stone circles in Northern Poland
however the early Christians liked to build churches on top of old stone circles and temples to show that their
God had effectively crushed the old gods

it had the added benefit that the locals would know how to get to the new church as it was in the same spot
as the old temple

stone circles being far more difficult to get rid of than wooden temples

the Christians managed that by lighting fires against the menhirs, then throwing cold water over them
and hitting them with sledge hammers

Food / Where can I buy cast iron pans (żeliwne patelnie) in Poland? [19]

I think I might have seen some in IKEA

I bought a cooks knife there several years ago and it is much better than my Sabatier

UK, Ireland / Getting the most from my hard earned money (transfer money from England to Poland) [41]


are you able to do that as I thought only Sp zoo s and SA s could invoice UK companies?
if this is the case then clearly the law has changed and this is great news

UK, Ireland / Business process outsourcing in the UK. [14]

another thing to remember about outsourcing to Poland as opposed to India is that you can have call centre staff who speak Dutch or German or lots of other European languages. Whereas in India, it is English or nothing

Many English companies would not want to have branch offices throughout Europe so having an info line which their Portuguese customers could call would be handy

Travel / Social Culture - Confused - good place in Warsaw to make new friends [19]

Babe, go into the library and cruise

they have a little cafe there or used to

you seem a decent human being, you will be fine

UK, Ireland / Getting the most from my hard earned money (transfer money from England to Poland) [41]


if you reside in Poland more than 184 days per year you are a Polish tax resident PERIOD

you will pay tax in Poland, f*cking end of

what you are doing is committing tax fraud as the Polish rate of tax is higher than in the UK
you are compounding the problem by no doubt posting in your real name

rather than take the p!ss out of the few kind souls who would try and help, you might want to worry
about some of the less savoury members of our little virtual community who would no doubt delight in grassing you up

if it transpires that you live in the UK for more than six months of the year, don't worry about it

trying to save a couple of quid on your ATM bills ought to be the last of your worries

Law / Government/EU Funding to start a new business in Poland (Warsaw)? [13]

so to make sure I understand properly, you want to open a restaurant in a major Polish city and you want the EU to cough up half of the start up fees?

please confirm

UK, Ireland / Poles in Ireland by Peadar de Burca. They "turned their backs on a country that gave them" [195]


they have not exactly done themselves a lot of favours recently

Let's face it, the Poles are not exactly falling over themselves to welcome back the Polonia from Kazahkstan and other former Soviet Republics

UK, Ireland / Getting the most from my hard earned money (transfer money from England to Poland) [41]

the next time someone wants tax advice, advice if you think you might have overstayed your visa or done something a bit silly though not necessarily illegal

can you please think up an imaginative nom de plume or alter ego?

the guy who wanted tax advice yesterday had also mentioned the name of the town he was living in in Poland and it is just an invitation to get grassed up

News / POLAND TO BECOME THE NEXT GREECE? [28]

I hope it won't happen in the UK but no one is sure whether we are over the worst of the banking crisis or whether this is just the start of the plunge

the world traditionally looked to the US to kick start the world economy but that is not happening

it would be foolish to write the UK off nevertheless

Poland ought to do better than most in riding out the storm

USA, Canada / US Polonia 70% for Kaczyński [343]

you all seem to be ganging up on him now

his great grandmother was subject to the might of the Atlantic in her journey to the land of the free
she had to battle sea sickness and perhaps might have got a nasty splinter from the decking

on a more serious note, does anyone know how many generations this US Polish citizenship right to vote thingy goes back?
clearly great grandmothers do not count
but if your grandmother was Polish could you apply for Polish citizenship?

News / Will you be proud of tranny (transsexual) representing Poland ? [124]

nice earrings

Law / Not earning yet but spending from previously earned money and other Poland tax issues [22]

a good point sometimes I let my sense of humour run away with me but having a letter from PWC puts you in a much stronger position

USA, Canada / US Polonia 70% for Kaczyński [343]

[quote=PWEI]Now that I think about it, none of the Peace Corps people I met out here were Polonia. And I have never met any VSO people who were Polonia either.

they don't need to

their grandparents paid the price for them by enduring an arduous crossing of the Atlantic in flimsy craft to a land where fear and bigotry would be a thing of the past

some of them were seasick along the way and it is their sacrifice which has enabled their spawn to have the right to stick their noses into Poland's affairs

News / Polish Doctor Burzynski finds a cure for incurable cancer [22]

What an outstandingly decent human being

just goes to show that Big Pharma and their lobbyists are pure evil.

Herceptin cost the Polish government about 20,000 dollars a month for treating each cancer patient
if I remember correctly.

Life / Looking to immigrate to Europe. How is life in Poland? [116]


I do not believe that any foreigners living in Poland wanted the government to slip on a massive banana skin over the building of the stadia and be the laughing stock of Europe.

50 years of communism is not exactly helpful in the development of economic growth I grant you

Life / Looking to immigrate to Europe. How is life in Poland? [116]


you are absolutely right, it is a good achievement.
if they had not been able to have got that organised they would have been stripped of the right to host
the games and it would have sent the message to the world
that it would not be wise to invest in Poland as the government is unable to make things happen

fortunately they delivered.

Life / Looking to immigrate to Europe. How is life in Poland? [116]


you showed great restraint Sir
I salute you

I did not even wish to reply to the young pup on account that I did not wish to burst his bubble
regarding the utopia on the banks of the Wisla however my lack of a reply was perhaps leading to
our South African colleague not getting the full picture

you are a far kinder person than I

once again, my hat is off

bearing in mind that the lady is in import export, she may want to hire staff

Pandora's box is well and truly opened then

in a country where people will say that they have a cold and that the doctor has given
them two weeks off. when you naiively ask them when they are coming back to the office
they say in two weeks time

I can only congratulate the Polish medical profession in their expert diagnosis and ability
to predict the precise moment when the patient is fit enough to return to work

plus for the sum of 100 PLN, some doctors will contrive symptoms to enable the sufferer
to take months off work

Law / Not earning yet but spending from previously earned money and other Poland tax issues [22]

Sean, if your name is Sean

please do not be posting on here using your real name

I am serious

if Sean Cameron is a fictitious name, then no problem

Law / Not earning yet but spending from previously earned money and other Poland tax issues [22]

looks like we have had a complete misunderstanding

let me clarify

I was not talking about fringe benefits I was talking about money
i have not mentioned fringe benefits at any time
some Polish firms used to pay their workers wages for the month of August but they would call it a present
so that they did not have to pay as much ZUS

i do not remember how the scam worked but I did not take part in it as it was tantamount to fraud

the 100 PLN gift example was made in jest but the principal is the same if you give someone money as a present they ought to declare

it they probably would not be taxed on it if it is a small sum but that is the law

if you transfer your own money to another account you do not have to pay tax on it as it is your own money
if someone else gives you money, you should be declaring it and it may be taxable

Law / Not earning yet but spending from previously earned money and other Poland tax issues [22]


I do not want to sound like I am bickering

however in most countries if you are given a gift it is treated as income, non taxable within certain limits
depending on the country

for example in the UK you can give someone a few thousand quid every year
any more than that and they have to pay tax on it
unless they give you the money as a loan

in Poland fathers can give their adult children unlimited sums of money without the child
having to pay tax on it
but they should declare the income (even though it is a gift) but would not be taxed on it

the rules about gifts are quite well established otherwise I could give my employees their
salaries and tell them that this week the company is giving them a gift

and this is exactly how it used to happen in Poland in the mid 90s
workers were receiving cash 'presents' from firms to commemorate the boss' daughter's birthday,
the date the firm was founded etc
this got cracked down on by ZUS

Law / Not earning yet but spending from previously earned money and other Poland tax issues [22]

Sir, it is I who am confused

who is Mr B?

if you get rumbled, the taxman looks at your financial affairs and starts asking awkward questions

If I gave you a hundred zlots as you are a nice person and I am ridiculously generous
you ought to declare that income, the fact that I paid tax on it is irrelevent

Law / Not earning yet but spending from previously earned money and other Poland tax issues [22]

my understanding gentlemen lies in between

we have established that our friend here (who really ought to post under another name if that is your real name as let's not make life too easy for the tax authorities)

is treated as a Polish tax payer
the money he is given as a present which should be declared as income unless it comes from his father
fathers can give unlimited gifts to sons tax free in Poland
so you are in the clear if that is the case

now I am far too lazy to check for you what would happen if the money was coming from your maiden aunt or second cousin once removed but you get the gist and

you are probably alright

good luck with the job hunt

if you get the Dubai job count the number of days you spend in Dubai

there are lots of things that you can do regarding the tax and Dubai but they are not for a public forum
if you get the job spend 500 quid seeing a tax advisor
it will be worth it in the long run

waits for the inevitable ..... but I know a man in the pub who can give you tax advice for the price of a kotlet dinner....

you need to use someone good to give you tax advice so if the men from the tax office come knocking you can show
them the letter from your advisor as a get out of jail card and if necessary sue your tax advisor for giving you bum advice

Life / Looking to immigrate to Europe. How is life in Poland? [116]

I would like to add to Polmed's comments for the benefit of our South African friend


again, getting a bank loan is very difficult so if you need money for your new business forget it. it is a double edged sword

I have always maintained that Poland is great, but.....

and there are reasons why it is not so great
but the good poiints outweigh the bad points

now someone will probably come on here now and tell me that he knows a man in the pub who can set up a Sp zoo for the price of a beer

but when I have set up Sp zoo we always used an accountant and we paid very good money to do it
were we ripped off, possibly? but better that than get in trouble later

you are entitled to your opinion
but it means nothing to me as it is all second hand

whenever someone posts on here wanting advice on living in Poland I always help
Comical Ali was trying to say 'mindlessly come to Poland, it is just great and take your family with you'

I rather favoured a more reasoned approach

and as for your granny still being alive, I am delighted for you
send her my regards