Tax on income from the UAE. British passport, Polish permanent resident.

Greetings,
Please could you clarify the Polish tax situation for the following:

Holder of a British passport
Polish pobyt stalowe
House-owner in Poland for over 6 years but has been working abroad.
For the past 3 years working in the United Arab Emirates, returning only twice a year to Poland for holidays.
Now returning to live full-time in Poland.

Will there be problems with tax when transferring money from the UAE to Polish bank account (held for over 6 years) ?

Many thanks.

you would be beter to transfer it to your british account and then to your polish account polish tax men will pull your pants down giving half the chance

That's sensible.

You should be OK and the Polish tax system is quite a generous one, however it's better not to put your head over the parapet.

Or you can take USD in UAE and bring them to Poland. Change the USD at a local exchange place. Put the cash in your bank. As long as you have proof that it is from earnings you should be fine.

Provided that
i) money was taxed in the UAE and
ii) there is a valid double taxation agreement between Poland and the UAE and
iii) the Polish tax office do not assess that your 'centre of vital interests' over the past three years was not actually Poland,
you don't owe any tax on that money.

However, you really should take professional advice on this.


How would that have any effect at all (other than forcing the OP to pay for two transfers instead of one)?

tax allowances are much much higher in the uk and the % of tax is much lower unless you want to hand over upwards of 35% to the polish government so they can buy themselves new mercs

a) It's rather likely that there is no tax owed on this money (assuming all the three conditions are met).
b) I pay 19% flat rate tax, which is significantly less than I'd pay in the UK.

will are not talking tax on income as its already been taxed for income but for savings poland will find a way to rape the account they tried to tax me when i flew in with £100000 cash although it was declared in the uk had emails from polish customs zus etc saying that no tax was due didnt stop the greedy bastards trying to skim a bit off for themselves

There is a declaration once entering Poland I believe the threshold is up to 10,000 Euro, if you have more money and you are stopped they can take all the money off you.If you are arriving in Poland with cash it would be beneficial to have a copy of the bank withdrawal slip so you prove source of funds.

As others have mentioned better to seek qualified opinion with tax advisors dealing Poland/non EU.

Agreed.

The Centre of Interest comment from Harry is very important. The property you own plus the permanent residency (absolutely unneccesary by the way if you are a British citizen and frankly more trouble than it's worth) could possibly swing that against you in which case you should be very careful. You mentioned already that this money is savings, however the Urząd Skarbowy are unpredictable (interpretations of rules can vary wildly from branch to branch) and doubtless some of the money is recent income.

In your favour are the facts that the UAE and Poland do have a current double taxation agreement and that if you can establish that Poland isn't your "Centre of Interest" you can stay for up to 183 days per tax year without raising any income tax liability.

You would do very well to keep the money offshore, but as Warszawski and Harry etc say, GET PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.

When you need to declare cash

You only need to declare cash if you are carrying 10,000 euros or more (or the equivalent value in other currencies) and you are:

entering the UK from a country outside the EU
leaving the UK to travel directly to a country outside the EU

If you are entering or leaving the EU through an EU country other than the UK, the declaration is made in that country.
Definition of EU

When declaring cash the EU is:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (including the Canary Islands), Sweden and the United Kingdom (not including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands).

Definition of cash

The term 'cash' covers:

notes and coins in any currency
bankers' drafts
cheques of any kind, including travellers' cheques

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How to declare cash

You must declare cash on duplicate form C9011, and post the completed top copy - 'Copy 1' - in the drop-box at the port or airport.

You can obtain and complete this form at the port or airport, or you can download and print it by following the link below.

Customs officers from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) may ask to see evidence that you have declared the cash. It's therefore important to keep a copy of the completed form. If you get the form at the port or airport, it automatically makes a carbon copy as you complete it. This is 'Copy 2'. If you download and print the form, you will need to make a photocopy of Copy 1. (You do not need to complete Copy 2 of the printed form.)

You may be fined if you fail to declare the money or if you give incomplete or false information.

Find form C9011 - Cash declaration

Going through customs

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Your rights if your cash is seized

Customs officers will only seize declared cash if they have reasonable grounds to suspect it is the proceeds of, or is intended for use in, illegal activities.

Seized cash cannot be kept for more than 48 hours (not including public holidays and weekends) without a court order.

A court may order seized cash to be:

held while investigations are carried out
confiscated if the investigation shows it is associated with criminal activity

If your cash is seized, customs officers will explain how you can appeal against the decision.

What to do if you have something seized by Customs

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Getting more help and advice

If you need more information about declaring cash when entering or leaving the UK, you can contact the Customs, International Trade and Excise Helpline by following the link below.

Contact details for the Customs, International Trade and Excise Helpline