Salary 'under the table' in Poland?

Hi everyone,
does everybody in PL get 1182 PLN transfered on the bank account and the rest "under the table" ? I was the other day at the bank to ask if I can have a credit card ( ebay,amazon and $hit like this ) and the lady there made a couple of phone calls and even after trying to get the lowest transaction limit allowed for me she was told that I can't have a credit card because of low income!!

Any advices on what to say to my boss about this?
P.S I really need that card, even a ryanair ticket ( the cheapest ones to Italy ) requires a credit card.
Thnx in advance

Just ask for a bigger over-the-table payment. But remember that the more he pays you over the table, the less you're going to get in your bank account.

Go to Nordea and get a Visa electron.
It is not a credit card, but a debit card which you can use on these major website's that you mention.

Nordea will give this card to basically everyone no matter your income, hence it is a debit card.

No they don't - that sort of thing usually only happens in low paid jobs where the employee is also the recipient of welfare. Even then it isn't common. It is however illegal to avoid tax and all your income, no matter how you receive it, is taxable. What sort of work do you do?

Banks have various policies regarding Credit Cards, In the past Polbank offered me one without asking for job prove, only because of my transaction history in the account. Search for it in the Internet or ask in banks. Or as here was suggested go without it and stay with your Debit Card. I don't know where in Polish online shopping credit card would have advantage over debit. Usually it's other way, because credit card transaction costs shops more.

thnx, I'll give it a try. I guess I can find it here in Krakow ( when I was living in Nowy Sacz I think I saw it somewhere ).


Jesus, if I'd be trying to avoid taxes would I be asking for advices on PM ?? I don't know where you live, but in Krakow a LOT of people( to not say the majority) get paid this way ;) and they just seem to be ok with it.I'm worried that I might lose my job if I stand up and tell him/her that I know what is going on here and I would like to have everything on paper and I REALLY can't afford that now.

Just be careful - the skarbowy can be proactive sometimes, especially if your employer is inspected.

BTW, I live in Warsaw, have worked for companies there and also owned two, employing quite a lot of people and I can assure you that this sort of thing is rare there in white-collar work.

About risking your job if you stand up to him - this is a real risk if you don't have an Umowa o pracy. If you do, and you plan to stay long-term in Poland, you're reducing your pension by doing this. If you have an Umowa o dzielo etc, there isn't much you can do. Grassing him up would probably rebound on you if you haven't declared the cash component of your income.

What field of work are you in? Please don't say ELT!

I really don't know what does ELT mean :D Anyway I'm a freight forwarder, so I guess just a below average job. I have the contract till the end of my residence card, after that I guess, I'll have to renew it again. As about skarbowy and all that, I don't think somebody who has an income of 7-8 million € / year is worried about those things, corruption wasn't born in PL, but is making a good living here :D :D.

Any idea about my credit card please? P.S I definitely need a credit card, not a debit one, last year I was coming back from holidays and my euros have finished, I had only 500 PLN and some change but in SK I couldn't use it for petrol, so I had to wait for some polish truck to pass that way, to beg the driver to change 50 euro for 300 PLN ( which by the way is astronomically high ) and to finally get 20 l of petrol to get home, that's what I want to avoid in the future.

Speak to your bank, ask them how much you will need to earn in order to get a credit card. Then go speak to your boss and ask for an increase in your over-the-table pay to that level (and agree to take a cut in your under the table pay).

BTW, you most certainly can use Polish debit cards outside Poland, I use mine without any problem.

Of course you can pay with Debit Card for petrol abroad. Just don't run out of money :)

I showed them my maestro cards and I got a big NO. Master Card and Visa rocks :D :D. Anyway, I'll have to hide permanently like 200 € somewhere in the car and leave it there.

That's problem of choosing card provider, not credit vs debit. Maestro is not very popular.

Ok, thnx. I don't really know what is popular and what isn't. I guess poor people don't know these things :D, can you tell me what is more popular than Maestro and could be accepted ?

but you wrote it yourself: "Master Card and Visa rocks :D :D. "
I think Visa is less popular in USA than Mastercard and in Europe opposite.

You got a point there. :D