I think if somebody pays for your books to your Polish account one day somebody can knoock your door and ask from where the money came from. Tax rules are so complicated. I also plan to sell ebooks online, but I'm not really sure how to do it legally. I think even as a foreigner you will have to proof from where the money comes to your account. If it is 2 or 3 people who pay maybe nobody will notice, you can always say your friend gave you money back, but if you plan to sell many books then I think you should register your business.
Maybe people can pay you in Bitcoins? Then there is no tax, but it is not very lagal I guess. I haven't tried it yet.
You can use foreign account for that, but then the other country may ask you if you shouldn't pay taxes from this entrepreneurship. Here some Q&A for the topic of selling in Allegro: allegrosprzedawca.blogspot.com/2008/10/allegro-dziaalno-gospodarcza.html
Happy to find someone that wants to do the same :)
where is the best place for us to find out the answers to our questions about this?
It's kind of expensive to start a business, if you don't start earning a lot of money from the very beginning. So it would be nice to really be sure if I really have to start a company if I want to sell my books online..
I should not think you need to set up a company - most authors are simply self-employed (savings come for those with high incomes by incorporation, but there is a cost so not worth it for starting out).
The first post says "I do not work in Poland, or have any income in Poland" and this may be the start for serious misunderstandings. An author typically works from home and in the scenario here, will sell books via the internet. So (a) he or she works in Poland (presumably) and he/she will need to bring the receipts from sales of books into Poland, therefore he/she has an income in(to) Poland. Looked at another way the work (writing) is done in Poland and the fruits of that work (income from sales) is brought to Poland.
As a Polish resident, tax is due on all income, wherever earned - and there is no exclusion via a double tax treaty as there are none with "t'internet".
regarding registering as a self employed writer in Poland:
when I registered for residence permit (I am a EU resident), I also got some tax papers - so I have pesel and NIP, and also I have a bank account with Pekao. Do I need to get a new NIP / new bank account when registering as self employed?! I have read some of the threads related to registering as self employed, but I didn`t quite understand this clearly.
Also - as I understand it, I would have to register for VAT (for tax deduction) - could you tell me what these deductions would imply?! is there a website where this is more clearly explained - specifically for Poland?!
thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge :)
Very rough ideas: 1. Registering for VAT could mean that you recover 23% VAT on goods and services bought for the business (so PLN 123 costs PLN 100) 2. You then get a deduction against income tax for expenses - so PLN 123 now costs PLN 82) 3. Then - check this - you charge 5% VAT on your sales 4. Separate bank account can save having to segregate later, but if you keep good records, should not be necessary (now if you set up a company, that's different - a company is a separate legal person and you can't mix the money!)
5 If you're gonna do this, you need to engage an accountant who can handle the VAT, advise on deductions and advise you regarding tax payments - once your income stream starts, you make payments on account sort of as-you-go with a view to payimg roughly the right amount of tax by 31/12 (the end of the tax year in Poland). Then there's a final sweep-up when all the figures are in.
is there an accountant anyone can recommend?! I read some other threads and sometimes it seems difficult to find a competent accountant. What should I be looking for, or be careful with - while looking for / meeting accountants?!
thank you so much for your replies - and for sharing your knowledge! :)
