News / Did George Soros want to destroy Poland with his economic shock therapy? [87]


Correct. However, experience shows us that they simply didn't have the ability - many State owned factories, run by Solidarność management failed miserably in the free market.

Privatisation was also the only way out - Poland needed hard cash, and simply didn't have the money anymore to sustain the system. The country was more or less hovering on bankruptcy - how could they afford to keep the factories while giving the people what they wanted? It just wouldn't have worked.

Tell me, given the dire economic crisis that Poland was in - what would you have done differently?

I've still never heard a clear "alternative" answer for what happened - look at the ex-Communist countries of Europe that are now in the EU - none of them are significantly better off than Poland, despite different methods used. Slovenia is, but they started from a far better base (it was the wealthiest Yugoslav Republic and Yugoslavia was far wealthier than Poland). The rest? About the same level.

The ultra-capitalist approach that was adopted was by far the best one - it gave Poland a clear platform to move on, and while the short term pain was bad - in the long term, Poland is prospering.

News / Did George Soros want to destroy Poland with his economic shock therapy? [87]


Your politics are a mess - surely as a "rightist" - you should endorse him? I mean - he played the markets and did very well for himself - surely every "rightist" would see him as a hero for putting business above personal feelings?


Why are you against Soros, then?

Seems to me that you are only "rightist" when it comes to people that you support, otherwise, you just revert to the same old lazy routine of throwing accusations at those who don't agree with you.

UK, Ireland / Is UK the new cradle of antipolonism? [161]


I've found that the vast majority of those with hang-ups about Britain are usually those who have forefathers that left Poland. Those living in Poland these days regard Britain as being one of the better EU members, no doubt helped by the utter lack of any moves to throw them out/punish them/etc. As I'm saying till I'm sick in the face - Britain and Poland have rather good relations these days.

Anyway, do I need to remind you that Britain allowed the Polish Government-in-Exile to stay in the UK? Or perhaps we could discuss how the 1945-era Poles were so happy in the UK that they actually can be used as a shining example of true immigration? They certainly didn't moan and whine about what the UK could've done - they just got on with their life in the new country. Great people.

As I've said - most of the racism about Britain comes from non-Poles who think they're Polish despite not speaking the language at all. The ordinary Poles? They really couldn't care less - Britain is generally good to Poland and is quite happy to accomodate Poles.

The whole WW2 thing is an absolutely minor side-note these days - and is only really argued about by historians. Ordinary people? They couldn't care less.


We don't have room for racist American scum in this country.

UK, Ireland / Is UK the new cradle of antipolonism? [161]


Even the IPN has made it clear that Poles were heavily involved with Jedwabane. As for criticising Gross - that's just lazy racism on your part, nothing more. Remember - Jan Gross is a historian at one of the best history departments in the world. Chodakiewicz? He's nothing in comparison - and the IPN is hardly a "impartial history source".


They shouldn't 'assume' things when in a foreign country. If they're too stupid to observe the law - then they should be prosecuted. I can't imagine "But, Mr Police Officer, I don't have to have my lights on when driving in the UK" will wash - I'll get a 100PLN fine and a point on my licence regardless. Incidentally - before you carry on - many of these cases, they were stealing from private sport ponds.


It's a great way to describe people like yourself - Plastic Poles with precious little knowledge of what's going on in Poland, and without any skill in the language.


Hahahaha - the hypocrisy is astounding. Personally, I'd be happy for everyone to own up to their racism - what about it? Can you admit Polish racism - something that UEFA is exceptionally worried about?


Most Polish people really couldn't care less about what happened after WW2 - they live in the present. As I said - it's obvious that you're American, because real Poles were more worried about the money in their pocket than any nonsense about history.


Godwin's law strikes again.

Listen, pal - you aren't Polish, you will never be Polish and you certainly aren't welcome to be Polish. Now - get the hell out of my country.

UK, Ireland / Is UK the new cradle of antipolonism? [161]


Can't do you a video link, but what about this?


Comment not needed.

UK, Ireland / Is UK the new cradle of antipolonism? [161]


Hahaha. There are plenty of such types in Poland - are you really so deluded as to think otherwise? LPR - you know, those guys who spout a similar anti-Polonism message were fond of spouting such garbage. Likewise, some elements of PiS have been rather vocal about removing foreign "elements".


It's the truth talking. edit


Perhaps the Polish media can answer that question?


The tolerance shown by the Catholic Church towards Radio Maryja certainly suggests that the Church approves. The fact that they have only now decided (after 20 years) to turn up at Jedwabne says it all.


You mean that Poles don't understand PRIVATE PROPERTY - KEEP OUT? Ah...actually, you would be right there.

Sorry, but if a Brit in Poland was to steal fish belonging to someone - the law would rightfully come down on them.


I notice no attempt to refute membership/approval of LPR.

Let's be realistic here - you're a Polish American who thinks that he speaks for Poland. Thankfully, you don't - most Poles think that people like you are a ******* joke. They don't regard the UK as a cradle of anything - indeed, they view the UK with much praise for allowing Polish workers to come in from the beginning, and for being generally supportive towards Poland in the EU. In fact, even the UK government just so happens to be in coalition with a Polish party in the EU - hardly the work of "racists", is it?

People like you just seek to stir up resentment because you're utterly dissatisfied with your life.

Personally, I think it's hilarious that an American is posting on a Polish forum about the racism of Brits - glass houses, anyone?

(Harry, by the way - this joker has been whining on The Guardian forums too - seems to be one of those idiots who probably lost a teaching job to a Brit who didn't need a work permit)

No name calling. There will be no more warnings for you.

UK, Ireland / Is UK the new cradle of antipolonism? [161]


What pisses me off is that there's no way to really accelerate your learning in Poland - I wanted to do a BA in English just to have "the papers" - yet - the morons wanted 3 years of study. I'm pretty certain that I could pass 90% of the stuff while asleep - but no, the timescale must be obeyed, even if I want to pay for it.

Frustratingly stupid.

Work / Average monthly salary in Poland is around 1000 PLN (few hundred bucks). [387]


From what I've heard, they're paying well above minimum wage.

Of course, Mark only dreams about Kasia earning such money.

UK, Ireland / Is UK the new cradle of antipolonism? [161]


I can tell you that the same nonsense is present in virtually every company I've taught in - I asked one director to his face why he was demanding it - and his answer was that the qualification has become so incredibly devalued that it just didn't make sense to allow people without it to apply.

Same nonsense is creeping into the UK - a marketing assistant needs a degree? whatever the hell for?

UK, Ireland / Is UK the new cradle of antipolonism? [161]


To be honest, it's a common trend among all European countries - in the good times, the natives have jobs that are considered to be "beneath" them. There simply isn't the same attitude as in America that a crap job is an opportunity in life. In Spain, you had the natives considering olive picking to be "lowly" - now they all want to work there. In the UK, shop jobs were "lowly" - now they all want to work there. In Poland, cleaning is seen as "lowly" - yet when the crisis comes, they'll want to kick out Ukrainians so they can do it.

Really - nothing new at all in Europe.

The UK wasn't unique in this respect - right now, in Poland, there's a massive problem with university graduates of worthless subjects refusing to do jobs that are "beneath" them.

UK, Ireland / Is UK the new cradle of antipolonism? [161]


Just look at business owners - the vast majority seem to be delighted to have Polish workers around.

I know one guy who struggled for years to find quality staff for his fish processing business - they were offering decent wages, but just couldn't find people who could last. Bang - Poland joined the EU, and he was able to run at full capacity for the first time in years.

In fact - his complaint to me wasn't that they were bad workers, but rather that they were willing to work *too* hard.

Travel / Which city is better to visit: Warsaw or Krakow? [169]


Now now, stop using electoral results to base your opinions on :P

(it's true what you say - Krakow isn't the cosmopolitian city that it pretends to be.)

UK, Ireland / Is UK the new cradle of antipolonism? [161]


Their agenda was to expel everyone non-British, not just Poles. Just like some people in Poland would like to do - what's new there? Nationalism is hardly something "unique" in Europe.


However, vandalising graveyards is a sadly common thing in Poland.


For which he subsequently apologised.


That's America that was doing that. You know, a different country.


Radio Maryja, anyone?


How were they murdering Brits and themselves without the knifes, hmm?


The article mostly talks about poaching fish. And yes, it is quite common in the UK for Poles to be stealing carp.


And you're telling me that Poles have never been racist towards others? Get out.


One posel was beaten up for his skin colour in Poland before - or did that conveniently escape your attention?


I think it's safe to say that anyone who talks about "polonophobia" and suchlike is almost certainly a supporter of LPR - and thus can be laughed out of this forum.

Travel / Traveling around Poland - our photo stories with very personal commentary [225]


On a positive note - the new A1 from just south of Rybnik to Gliwice is fantastic. Three lanes, smooth, wide, empty - it's a dream.

Poland doesn't have *that* much yet - but it's getting there. Compare to Slovakia - which has a whole 20km of motorway (well, expressway!) on the main road between Katowice and Budapest - Poland really isn't doing badly.

News / Did George Soros want to destroy Poland with his economic shock therapy? [87]


Yep. Hardly the actions of a socialist, or a communist, is it?

Soros is seen in the UK as the typical greedy billionaire who had no qualms about hurting the country for financial gain - but he's also seen as the guy who invigorated the UK economy. Certainly no allegations of "socialist" or "communist" there - although I'm aware that it's the usual dirty word thrown at enemies in America.

Law / Tax in Poland - tricks to avoid PIT? [41]

If he was teaching, he wouldn't be paying VAT. Teaching/training is mostly exempt for VAT purposes. I say mostly, because there's been some rather strange rulings recently - the whole thing is a matter of some debate.

Law / Tax in Poland - tricks to avoid PIT? [41]


Yeah, normal practice is to write off one room in the place where you live for business purposes. Then you can write off the cost of holidays, and you can even claim the insane 22zl/day subsidence allowance when "travelling". Quite what 22zl/day buys you in most of Europe, I'm not sure.

One thing that is a pain in Poland is deducting non-EU invoices - the tax office can be an utter bastard about this.


Uh - take the 23% that he charges his clients, minus the VAT he's already paid for services/goods, and you're left with what he has to pay to the VAT man. It might be a tax on the final consumer, but as he has to pay VAT to the taxman, to all practical purposes, he pays VAT.

Law / Tax in Poland - tricks to avoid PIT? [41]

In English, "company" can mean self employment, or it can mean a form of "spółka".

Therefore, it is correct to talk about "company taxation" when talking about deductions for self employment purposes.

Seriously, stop digging.

Law / Tax in Poland - tricks to avoid PIT? [41]


Sigh, your knowledge of taxation really is poor.

It means his profit is less than 85,000PLN. Given that you can write off limitless amounts of things in order to reduce your profit, it's not much of a surprise that he only pays the lower rate.

Never heard of "deductions" as a concept in company tax law?

Law / Tax in Poland - tricks to avoid PIT? [41]

How can it end up badly?

We all know how Polish and foreign companies alike take advantage of the tax laws to pay as little as possible - it's quite normal in the world. I could give you plenty of examples where Polish-owned companies exploit the system - shall we start with the usage of "umowa o dzieło" contracts?

Trying to claim that it's only "foreign-owned" companies that do this is ridiculous - Polish owned companies are very creative indeed when it comes to cooking the books.

Law / Tax in Poland - tricks to avoid PIT? [41]

Funny thing is, all it would take would be one letter to someone as a result of what was said on here and suddenly, people like you would vanish.

Law / Tax in Poland - tricks to avoid PIT? [41]


Nothing wrong with tax avoidance. Tax evasion is a whole different story.

As for those special economic zones - areas such as Kostrzyn-Slubice would be almost totally reliant on the cigarette trade if it wasn't for them.

And you still seem absolutely unable to admit that self employed people do not pay CIT - but hey, keep on digging.

Law / Tax in Poland - tricks to avoid PIT? [41]


Those who operate a działaność gospodarcze or similar pay only PIT.

Those who operate some form of spółka pay PIT and CIT.

It's not really that difficult to work out, is it?

It seems strange that you, who has never operated a business, feels the need to try and convince three Polish business owners what PIT and CIT is.

Law / Tax in Poland - tricks to avoid PIT? [41]

You really don't seem to know the difference between corporate and personal taxation, do you?

Some of us have a działaność gospodarcze - and we pay through the PIT system just like employees do. No corporate taxation in sight, nor should there be.

CIT has absolutely no relevance for people who operate a działaność gospodarcze.


Yes, and we pay it. Monthly, or quarterly - our choice. I pay monthly, but that's because it's "neater" for accounting purposes.

Is it just me Jonni, or does he appear to be absolutely clueless about the different types of business in Poland?


Uh, if you have a friend who can do such a thing, wouldn't it be better to trust a tax inspector rather than yourself? We all know how ruthless the tax office can be - I have two students who told me that they aren't actually allowed to "drop" a case without the US being paid everything owed.

My accountant does mine. Why should I waste my time, when she is paid to sort out my taxes anyway?

(and before you start with the insults - if you can't explain the different calculations applied to the ZUS deduction, then you can't comment about the taxation applied).

Law / Tax in Poland - tricks to avoid PIT? [41]


I think you've got some serious problems if you don't even know that someone who operates a "działaność gospodarcze" can pay tax quarterly rather than monthly.

Then again, if we were tax evaders (which we aren't) - wouldn't we be actually integrating into Poland by avoiding taxation? After all, it's quite a popular sport in Poland.

Law / VAT number as a sole trader vs a company VAT number in Poland / 'trading as' question [10]

Ah, Vince, you should be sending these questions to me ;)


No, it's not right. The NIP is a 'tax identification number' - in short, a unique identifier for your business. It's separate to the concept of VAT registration/numbers. But this is correct - without VAT registration, you can't claim back the VAT on purchases.


Yep - you can register for VAT. You'll get a separate number for this - something like "PL 2343 2834 4594 2345". You'll have this in addition to the NIP and REGON.


Poland is quite brilliant in this respect - you can have a name (for instance - VINCERULES) and then advertise quite easily as VINCERULES-LANGUAGES or VINCERULES-IT - or even as something totally different. It's quite common for companies to be registered as something quite strange, but to trade as something totally different - I know one example where the company name is totally, completely different to the actual trading name. There's not even a requirement to say "trading as" - you just trade as whatever you want. Just make sure that you have the relevant PKD codes registered and you're good to go.


Nope, only one registration for all - the only requirement is the PKD codes must be registered.

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


Seems to me that we're finally seeing the civil war within PiS that I predicted would happen - they're facing electoral disaster (after this year, there's no elections of any sort until 2014 - I think?) - and a defeat now will condemn them to a long 3 years in opposition. I'm just surprised that it's taken so long for them to move - perhaps, as I said before - they've been deliberately manipulating Jarek into destroying his credibility in order to seize control of the party after the election.

In a sense, electoral humiliation here will be the best thing for PiS and Poland - they'll get rid of Kaczynski, they'll come back in 2014/2015 with a brand new strategy that will appeal to the voters - and Kaczynski will either retire or become the head of a fringe loony party that no-one cares about. His time has gone, definitely.

News / Did George Soros want to destroy Poland with his economic shock therapy? [87]


Gotta love a so called "rightist" attacking one of the greatest examples of capitalism going.

If Soros is a socialist, then you really need to take that tin foil hat off. I don't call a man who earnt billions with currency speculation "socialist".

News / EU presidency to cost Poland 110 million euro [33]


Plenty. Like it or hate it, the US can easily bully many other countries to get their way.


Poland can't get away with it so easily - such behaviour (thus pissing off the Big 3) is always going to backfire - as they now find themselves without allies when it comes to a bigger EU budget.


The EU is far too complicated for that sort of thing - there really is no such thing as a "voting bloc" in the EU. Generally speaking though, the UK has pretty much agreed that she will have an opt-out from any particularly controversial things - and at the same time, leaves Germany ad France to push ahead with things such as Schengen and the Euro.

News / EU presidency to cost Poland 110 million euro [33]


Or perhaps there's a more simple reason - the UK sees it as a monumental waste of time and money and decided that a low-key approach suited the UK far more than a high profile approach?


Not really - the EU can't afford to ignore one of the biggest economies in the world. It's well understood that the UK, despite playing a game of "we couldn't care less" is actually (along with France and Germany) ruling the EU.


People tend to respect the might of bigger countries.