Law / Can I get a PESEL and register foreign birth certificate in Poland without citizenship? [5]

You get a PESEL once you apply for temporary or permanent residency - so no you don't need to be a citizen to get a PESEL. I am on 5 year temporary residency and was issued a PESEL when I obtained that.

Law / Should I set up a business for my ZUS and Taxes as someone who earns money online in Poland (YouTube)? [3]

As self employed you will only have to pay a low amount of ZUS for the first couple of years - mine comes in at less than 500 PLN per month. You can also opt for a flat rate of income tax at 19% irrespective of how much you earn (which if you are going to earn significantly more than 85k is definitely worth considering).

Law / Registering Marriage in Poland [16]

You do not need your "original" birth certificate that is utter nonsense. You need an official certificate issued by your national registrar (so using UK as an example, you need to go here to order an official copy.

gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate

Travel / LeCar Poland car rental reviews? [8]

I always use Sixt when I need to hire a car - prices are very good and the service is also excellent.

Love / Do I move from UK to Poland or not? (I met a Polish lady) [21]

@mafketis No block just entirely too busy. I don't watch Polish TV, my fiancee speaks English and I don't work in Poland so I am not exposed to the language as much as ex-pats who work here.

Love / Do I move from UK to Poland or not? (I met a Polish lady) [21]

I moved here almost 5 years ago to be with my fiancee (we get married in a month). I do not speak Polish, I live in a city where a low percentage of people speak English (Lodz) and I have absolutely zero regrets.

Work wise - you can always teach English at somewhere like Berlitz (very easy to get a job there) for pay which is higher than the average job here in Poland (although still low compared to the UK) or if you have specialised knowledge set up your own company. Fortunately I have a very strong international professional reputation so I am not reliant on Poland for my income (all my clients are outside of Poland) - I work as a self employed consultant, so I am in a slightly better situation than many people who come here from a foreign country - but I know many expats here who are doing just fine.

Do I wish I could speak Polish? Sure. Is it a deal breaker? Absolutely not.

So if you think you will be able to find suitable work I see no reason for you not to move.

Plus it is not an all or nothing - it isn't like you can't go back to the UK if you decide you don't like it here after a period of time, or things don't work out.

Life / A good cobbler and bespoke tailor in southeastern Poland? [7]

@cms Thanks :)

Love / English guy marrying Polish Fiancee - how expensive is a wedding in Poland? [6]

@Marsupial I have a Linen suit being made by a local tailor - I wanted the classic look :)

Life / A good cobbler and bespoke tailor in southeastern Poland? [7]

@cms I found a great old tailor in Lodz called Tadeusz Baś. You were right regarding the Linen - it would have taken him two weeks to get some Linen delivered but he said if I could provide the fabric he would make the suit. After a few hours scouring the Internet I managed to source some 260g Linen locally and took it back to Mr. Baś the same day. He measured me up yesterday and I have my first fit on 15th.

From what I have read this guy is very traditional and does very high quality work - he is also incredibly friendly and helpful and his prices are fantastic. My suit is costing me 2200 PLN plus the cost of the fabric. Next time I go I will make sure I have more time because his range of fabrics are just fantastic - some of the best textile houses in the world; but he only keeps a limited stock in so really you need to add an extra 2 weeks on to your order time if you need your suit by a specific date. His usual turn around is 2 months but he has made a special arrangement with me to finish mine in time for my wedding in mid March.

I am very excited to see the finished result and if the suit is as good as his reputation suggests I will definitely be getting more work done by him.

Love / English guy marrying Polish Fiancee - how expensive is a wedding in Poland? [6]

So we decided to get married in Mauritius because it was far simpler than jumping through the hoops required to get married in Poland (and who wouldn't want to get married on a beach on a. tropical island?). We take the plunge mid March :)

(Now I just need to find a tailor to make me a suit...)

Life / A good cobbler and bespoke tailor in southeastern Poland? [7]

Merged:

Looking for Bespoke Tailor in Lodz

I need a Linen Suit made and am looking for a bespoke tailor in Lodz. I have a very short time frame (I need the suit no later than March 7th).

Law / Receiving a speeding fine (via camera) in Poland with a British licence [27]

Thanks for the help everyone, it is very reassuring. I wish there was some way to get them to provide english copies of documents like these.

Law / Receiving a speeding fine (via camera) in Poland with a British licence [27]

Yes the car is on Polish plates and yes I have a registered address here (in fact the car is registered to me). I was told I don't need to get a Polish license as my English one is sufficient. So I just fill in the paperwork and send it off? I don't have NIP only PESEL.

Law / Receiving a speeding fine (via camera) in Poland with a British licence [27]

Merged: Speeding Ticket from Speed Camera

Soooo, I got a speeding ticket from one of those speed cameras (first one in my life) and all the paperwork has come in but it is all in Polish. Also I have a UK license not Polish so how do I handle this? I have been fined 100PLN + 4 Points but Polish licenses are different to English licenses (you get more points from what I understand) so how does this work?

Any help appreciated.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

Thanks Jolly, I sent them an email. Do you know how much they pay and whether they hire you or you have to be self-employed?

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

I am interested in teaching English in Lodz. I am a native English speaker who has been living in Poland in for 3 years (sadly I don't speak Polish as the environment I live in is English speaking). I have a degree in Applied Social Science and Information Services and have teaching experience (UK University) and onsite training experience (UK oil industry) but all that is in technology based courses. I would ideally be looking for something part time (maybe 20-25 hours per week) and already have PESEL and residency status.

If anyone knows anywhere in Lodz that might be interested please either send me a pm or reply to this post.

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

I am fully aware that dividends are not CIT deductible, it would make absolutely no sense for them to be and I don't know a single country in the world where they are. With regards to Interim Dividends, so long as the shareholders agree to the interim dividend and the company is profitable at the time of the dividend vote from the shareholder - I don't see any problem with issuing interim dividends. Again, of course Interim Accounts would need to be presented to the shareholders the same as Annual Accounts are required to be made available to shareholders before an vote on dividends at the Annual General Meeting.

I am still not seeing anything here which is complex in the situation of a single shareholder corporation with a simple consultancy business model and limited overheads.

I of course appreciate the responses but I still don't see any need for an accountant in my situation.

With regards to who will communicate with the tax office on my behalf (presumably because of the language barrier) my fiancee speaks English as do several of her relatives (one of which just graduated law school) should the need arise.

If my company was conducting more complicated business I would agree that it would be cumbersome to manage the accounts on my own, but with my business model, I really don't see any complications. Most of my work is with the European Commission or corporations and is invoiced on a daily rate with expenses - there is nothing complex about it.

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

Corporation Tax is never difficult if you keep your accounts updated properly - VAT tends to be the biggest headache and as I said, from what I have read it doesn't seem so bad at all.

One thing I am still trying to clarify whether an S.P.Z.O.O still has to pay ZUS if it has no employees - my understanding is that it doesn't. The advantage of having an S.P.Z.O.O.O is you don't have to pay employee tax contributions if you have no employees because Directors are not classed as Employees unless they draw a salary. As the only Director in my company I will be paying myself dividends on my shares periodically, as opposed to drawing a salary.

And for the record, I haven't just been reading online - my future mother in law is a bank manager with Pekao and several members of the family have their own businesses - however, I prefer to do a range of research rather than just accepting advice from close friends and family (as I know all too well that often friends will tell you what you can get away with rather than what you are supposed to do).

I am still not seeing any justification for an accountant on a simple consultancy model - the VAT and Tax systems all seem very straight forward. It is not about trying to do things on the cheap, it is about not throwing money away where I don't need to - especially in the early days of the business where revenues are slower as you get established. I have no intention of throwing away savings on something I don't need. Once the business is established I may well hire an accountant just to remove the work overhead from my own schedule but certainly not before it becomes necessary.

I have also just found out from another family member that you can register a company online now meaning you don't have to pay Notary fees if you go to: ems.ms.gov.pl

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

I have no problem with being investigated but I am confident the tax situation is not as difficult as you state. As for English info on Polish tax law - I have read KPMG's guide, they are one of the most respected corporate accounting/tax/auditing firms in the world - I don't believe their information would be "nonsense".

As for "Remember, many of these tax laws were more or less written from scratch 20 years ago" that is quite incorrect. As Poland is a member of the EU these laws are based explicitly on VAT Directive 2006/112/EC which came into effect on November 28th 2006 (less that 7 years ago) with many of the changes such as "Reverse Charge" (adopted in 2008) happening after that date.

So actually Polish VAT law is very new and not based on 20 year old systems at all but based on EU Directives and Regulations - and remember Regulations do not allow for different interpretations in different member states, they are explicit single interpretation texts which all EU Member States MUST introduce to their national laws by the specified deadline (which in the case of VAT laws passed some years ago).

I am beginning to wonder if there are certain people on this board with a vested interest in telling foreigners they have to do things they don't or trying to instill them with moral panic by making things seem more complex than they are because they work in the specific sectors they are promoting (such as tax accountants).

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

I don't have a physical office so no VAT on rent, all my overheads are outside Poland (so reverse charge) and at least initially all my clients (B2B and B2C) are outside of Poland too so B2B would be reverse charge and B2C would be Polish 23% rate. I don't see what is so complex about that to require a tax accountant.

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

My understanding of European law (which includes Poland) on VAT is that you do not charge VAT on any invoices issued outside of the EU period. Last I checked Poland wasn't immune to EU law? Perhaps if you could provide a reference to support your post it would help clarify?

According to KPMG:

Non-Polish Entities
Non-Polish entities that carry on taxable supplies in Poland are obliged to register for VAT regardless of their taxable turnover.

However, non-Polish entities are not obliged to register if they affect only certain activities, such as for example:

 supplies of goods for which the VAT is settled by the customer (reverse charge)
 supplies of services for which the VAT is settled by the customer (reverse charge).

If your business is not registered for VAT in Poland but sells and delivers goods from another EU Member State to customers in Poland who are not VAT registered (distance sales), where the value of those sales exceeds a threshold of PLN160K, your business is required to register and account for VAT in Poland.

So if I am only supplying B2B consultancy services to customers outside of Poland, I presume that means I am not even required to register for VAT.

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

I don't see how, it is simply a case of filing vat each month - which is neither complicated to calculate nor (from what I have seen) complicated to file. Given the international nature of my work, I suspect most of the time they will actually be paying me rather than the other way round. Most of my invoices will be non VATable as most of my revenues will be generated outside of the EU and very little if any is expected from directly within Poland.

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

I am seeing nothing in the regulations which states an accountant is mandatory for S.P.Z.O.O - can you please provide a source?

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

Thanks for the reply Malone it helped a little although it still seems like a mine field.

I would also like to know what the average full time salary is for the following roles in Lodz (preferably with links to resources supporting replies):

Accountant
Business Lawyer
Web Developer (PHP, MySQL, XHTML, HTML 5, CSS2 & 3, Javascript, AJAX experience essential)
System Administrator (GNU/Linux, MySQL, Apache/Nginx (including clustering), Postfix, Dovecot, CLI scripting languages (including bash, sed, perl) experience essential)
Programmer (development of applications for Windows, GNU/Linux, iOS, Windows Phone, Android and strong knowledge of cryptography essential)
Social Media Specialist (track record in promoting brands on social media including Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Reddit essential)

All roles include a requirement to being able to competently speak and write English.

I look forward to replies - please try to provide links to sources rather than just telling me what you think they should be paid.

Thanks.

Also would like information on costs for the following (again for Lodz):

1. Modern office space: preferably with 7 rooms following dimensions (or close):
Reception (3m x 4m)
Main Office (8m x 10m)
Manager Office (3m x 4m)
Server Room (2m x 3m)
Conference Room (6m x 4m)
Bathroom (WC)
Kitchen (3m x 2m)

or

Single open space which can be partitioned into "rooms" above (150 square meters approx)

Air Conditioning Preferable or permission to install (essential)
Parking for up to 10 cars also desirable but not essential

2. Power and other utility costs for above office space

3. Internet costs (high speed with minimum 100Mbit download & 30Mbit upload (symmetrical line preferable))

The office must be in a desirable location and a modern facility with clean facade and structural integrity.

Law / Setting up small business in Poland? [191]

Hi,

I moved to Poland a year ago to be with my fiancee and now I would like to setup an S.P.Z.O.O company but it seems to be a bit of a mine field. I was hoping someone might be able to answer a few questions:

1. In the UK you can setup a Limited Liability Company and not draw a salary, but instead pay yourself dividends on your shares periodically. This allows you to avoid employee contributions for National Insurance (like ZUS in Poland) and generally means you pay lower taxes (as there are tax breaks for dividends). Is the same possible in Poland or do all companies have to have employees and therefore pay ZUS?

2. Total cost of setting up a company in the UK (Limited Liability Corporation) is around 500 PLN if you use a 3rd party company to do all the registration work, yet here I seeing quotes in excess of 2500 Euros + 5000 PLN minimum share capital. Seems to me there are a lot of companies out there trying to scam foreign investors as the official fees don't look very high at all. Can someone explain to me more honest costs for setting up S.P.Z.O.O and does the company need to have 5000 PLN in escrow or a bank account for the share capital?

3. I have not worked since I arrived in Poland so I do not have NIP. How do I go about getting one? I did phone the immigration office to find out if I needed to register to live in Poland but they explained that because I am British, I don't have to register to live here, so I hope they were right and I don't have any problems obtaining NIP. From what I have read on these forums, the public sector workers can be a little misleading sometimes, which leaves me a little worried.

4. Do I need to have an office or can I just get a PO BOX for the company address? Also where can I get a PO BOX in Lodz?

5. With regards to tax, my business is very simple (basically a consultancy) so accounts will be straight forward. In the UK you can file your own accounts online even for a Limited Liability Company and do not have to hire an accountant - is the same true in Poland?

Thanks in advance for any replies. You can contact me on polishforums.281752 [at] think-privacy.com

Travel / Best way to get from Lodz to Warsaw? [48]

Merged: Taxi from Lodz to Warsaw Airport

Can anyone give me an idea of how much a taxi would be from Lodz to Warsaw Airport? I need to be at the airport for 6am and unfortunately there is no train to get me there in time.

Thanks.

Paladine