Law / Polish business haven't got a clue: Discuss. [72]

I think in terms of genuinely successful Polish companies that have operations abroad I can only think of KGHM. Orlen's forays outside Poland have been disastrous. In any case those are state monopolies. In terms of private business maybe Asseco and LPP but they are shaky in lots of ways.

USA, Canada / Polack/American Polonia/Plastic Pole "culture" [568]

But by your logic then Scotland is not a country, so you can not be Scottish. Scotland at the moment is a part of the United Kingdom, with some powers to raise taxes on internal issues - just like Galicia was a part of the Austrian Empire.

You underestimate the importance of American Polonia in the fall of communism - in the 80s there were still many more native born Poles and they were a key electorate in close fought states like Michigan, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania which coincidentally had a high number of electoral college votes. Reagan's threats to the Soviets certainly was a factor in them not going for a full scale red army invasion. In addition there was plenty of food parcels for the strikers, Polish language broadcasts organized by US Polonia, financial support for the unions - since entry visas were difficult at the time what else could they do ?

Real Estate / Poland Housing prices in July 2010 [129]

What would drive a 5-8% increase in prices per annum ? Houses are already grossly overvalued compared to wages and to rent levels.

Much more likely over a few years is a 30% dip in towns outside Warsaw. I just finished a deal for one piece of real estate for almost 25% less than the asking price (and about 15% less than for what it went for in 2008)

And Polish banks did deal in derivatives - Millennium, Raiffeisen and BRE all have high exposure to currency derivatives which they flogged to Polish businesses who didnt understand them.

Law / Urząd Skarbowy, I paid too little on my last PIT? [26]

Its 15 years since I last practiced in the UK but as an experienced ACA I can confidently say that dealing with the UK tax offices is many times easier than dealing with the Poles.

No, there are no binding rulings but they will almost never go back on items that have been discussed and documented with inspectors unless they think you intended to decieve them or didnt disclose things on purpose.

In Poland you never get face to face access with the people issuing the rulings in order to clarify your case and the only way you can seem to have a reasonable discussion is by hiring external advisers who know the right people there. The time of getting the ruling is so long that often you have to take a decision in the meantime which may end up costing you money. The even bigger frustration is that each regional tax office has its own rulings meaning what you agreed in Warsaw doesnt apply in Lodz - try applying that to a nationwide operation and see how much time you end up wasting !

The World Banks rankings on ease of paying tax show UK at number 16 and Poland at number 151 just ahead of Armenia and the Ivory Coast.

Its even much lower than its CEE peers (Czech 121 and Hungary 122). The other countries where I have worked also come in with rankings that I think reflect their increased complexity compared to the UK - America is 61 and Germany is 71.

Law / Urząd Skarbowy, I paid too little on my last PIT? [26]

But a binding ruling from the tax office is

a) time consuming to obtain (3 months for a written ruling) and in my experience its much more difficult to get a positive ruling without employing a specialist.

b) not straightforward as even minor errors in the implementation of what you got the ruling on mean that it can be overturned.

c) illogical in that you have to get a binding ruling for each individual case - say you have 10 employees and you want a ruling on their bonus scheme then you need 10 separate rulings.

Law / Problems with Polish Bureaucracy, residency [17]


But when I lived in the USA myself the bureaucracy was much much less than Poland and tended to affect stupid things (I remember the residents association of the condo being a real pain about cooking smells and parking places) rather than essential things.

Law / Problems with Polish Bureaucracy, residency [17]

I haven't often complained about this in the past as I saw some steady progress (more of a spurt under PiS ironically than under PO) but my experiences in the last few months are that it is not getting better.

Past month has included

- 5 visits to Notaries, one of which lasted 9 hours because the notary and the other sides lawyers were so disorganized.
- A bank loan that required 55 different places for me to sign and 14 annexes.
- Buying an off the shelf company - was told it would take 3 days, in fact its been more like 3 weeks.
- A bizarre and farcical process for changing registered address - this is a one form job but the amount of things that need to be done subsequently was mind boggling.

I think at the heart of the problem is a real misunderstanding - in most of the capitalist world a senior person's job is to make decisions, find financing, ensure smooth execution

Whereas I think in Poland the govts view (and the view of banks) is that you are essentially there to sign documents and be liable and have nothing better to do than screw around in notaries' offices and stamp and initial documents which you have no hope of reading even if you are an expert speed reader.

I have a few businesses here and would say this - if its a simple one person job with a few customers then its not especially bureaucratic. This kind of job might make a few thousand zloty but not serious liviing.

If however you want to

- employ people
- rent or own a premise and use it for business
- borrow money
- make things
- export things
- import things
- use forex

then it quickly becomes a nightmare. And Poland's assessed place in the World Bank's ease of doing business report is in the mid 70s. One of the lowest in the EU. I worked before in UK, USA and Germany plus own a business in Czech and have to say that Poland is lagging all of those badly in reforming its bureaucracy.

Interested in other people's experiences - is anything getting better or has the reform stalled ? If I can think of concrete improvements in last 24 months I come up with simplified VAT filing and not much else.

News / Weekend of carnage as 41 people lose their lives on Poland's roads [44]

One of the most bizarre things about Polish drivers is the way they speed up rather than slow down when they see you on a zebra crossing. This happens even when walking my kids accross the road. Its clearly a basic mindset problem rather than the fault of the roadss, old cars, police etc. That said, 100% agree that the Police should be given much wider powers for instant suspensions.

Travel / Restaurant reviews in Warsaw and real life ? [9]

Have to say I generally find In Your Pocket reviews reliable - I often travel in CEE and will make it my business to pick one up when I land. They are biased towards curries, Irish pubs etc but then so are their readers.

WTF - its not 5 star but I have eaten there probably 30 times and never had bad service or a bad meal.

Sense - normally I just drink there, but on the few occasions when I've eaten I thought it was good.

Speaking of Mexicans, anybody tried that new Frida place - walked past it a week or so ago and looks quite nice

Life / Small change in shops in Poland!? [95]

It is down to a mixture of ingrained mentality and a bit of laziness. It does help the staff get out of the store at the end of the day a few seconds quicker if they have nice clean amounts to cash up as well.

UK, Ireland / Do Polish People Litter their own country (just like they do in the UK)? [84]

Its weird - in towns they generally are litter free and people do try and put things in the bins though these are often overflowing, so it sometimes ends up "in and around". Certainly if you dropped litter in front of a Pole in the street he would probably comments and ask what you are doing.

But in the country, and especially near lakes I'm amazed at how people just dump beer cans and food wrappers everywhere - the unspoiled countryside and wildlife is one of the few things Poland can be really proud of, so to pollute it like that really shocks me.

Law / Can I come to Poland with my girlfriend on the student visa as a dependent? [40]


This is the sentance I was referring to. The inference is pretty clear, direct or not.

In fact there are plenty of successful Indians in Poland - my cousin is married to one who is very wealthy, another one has just completed a major PLN 1m piece of work for me with great success and professionalism. In the old days in the 90s when we used to have the Brits v Indians cricket games in Warsaw they were all richer and harder working than we were. But many of them started off as traders and importers.

In my general experience the Arab and African students who come here learn Polish far quicker than the English who tend not to stray too far from Jimmy Bradley's / Brogans / Irish Embassy and whatever the Gdansk and Wroclaw equivalents are.

Law / Can I come to Poland with my girlfriend on the student visa as a dependent? [40]

The "just offering advice" line doesn't really ring true - between you lot you manage to call the guy an arsehole, poke fun at him because he cannot afford a plane ticket, tell him it might be different he if was white and well educated.

What's my problem in general ? This forum used to offer lots of advice to people who wanted to come here. I stepped off a plane here myself in 96 without a word of Polish and went through the same integration and work permit grief that all EU people from pre-2004 can remember. It seems now that all queries are slapped down immediately in the most churlish manner possible by people who are recent arrivals themselves and who actually also seem embittered that they are not able to get decent work here.

Law / Can I come to Poland with my girlfriend on the student visa as a dependent? [40]

Out of interest I assume all you self appointed immigration police who claim to be well educated and to have things to offer here speak Polish and have a recognizable trade other than being English teachers ? Can you string a Polish sentance together apart from "Dworzec Centralny i nie ma taryfa dwa" ? And why does being black or white make a difference ?

In substance you are all right - its tough to get work here if you are from outside the EU, but to be so ****** when in fact the only advantages you have are that you by chance were born in the UK doesn't reflect well.

Real Estate / Do any UK banks offer mortgages for Polish properties. [37]

Of course its going to be more expensive - the bank has to bear the hedging costs and the conversion costs.

Travel / WHAT TO WEAR END OF JUNE FIRST WEEKS OF JULY IN WARSAW [25]

5 zloty to the person who brings your luggage up is typical. 2 zlots for the bloke who helps you out of the cab. 2 zlots for room service or 5 zlots if its a big order. Watch some hotels in warsaw put quite big service charges on the room service so point that out to the doris who brings your food.

Work / CPAs in Poland? [8]

The Polish accounting equivalent of CPA is called a Biegly Rewident.

Its a strange organization - after the end of Communism there were only a few thousand of whom hardly any spoke English. They admitted about 10 members over a 6-7 year period (literally) so their prices went sky high and each Biegly was signing off thousands of audits.

Eventually EU integration forced change on them and they are now a pretty good organization with a difficult set of exams. A newly qualified Biegly would get paid 10-15k PLN per month, more in Warsaw. Technically they are as strong as British or US accountants but they lack the commercia/business angle, even if they have come from the Big 4.

What is sad here is that there is no intermediate qualification like Accounting Technicians. So for book-keepers you never really know what you are getting.

UK, Ireland / Polish workers humiliated at the Laurens Patisseries - protest [45]

Jonni, all of those retailiers are paying their staff for the lost hours. And Sunday is actually the 3rd biggest day for most retailers, especially those in shopping centers or hypers.

Work / Driving jobs in Poland. (HGV and bus/coach) [11]

For a coach driver. PLN 2700 gross plus some small shift bonuses and overtime - you could take take home about 2500. If thats of interest to you send me a PM.

Lorry drivers - starts at about the same but can go up to say 4500 if you are doing plenty of European runs.

Be warned - these figures are a year old and there has been a huge wave of cutbacks in the haulage industry so there are plenty of people competing.

Real Estate / Apartments too expensive for Poles living in Poland [54]


I can assure you the 1.000 from the government for having a baby will buy about one set of clothes and two months of baby milk. Its hardly an outrageously high level of benefit and its aimed, quite rightly at the poorer sections of the population.

How many charities are there that could support you indefinitely ? And there are never ending zwolnienie lekarskie but after 3 years your benefits are cut sharply, certainly to the extent that it would be no easy life.

Real Estate / Poland flat tax issues - real estate - 10% tax [6]

So a straight answer is yes. If you sell it before 31 Dec 2011 you have to pay 10% on the profit. The loan and related expenses are deductible.

If you reinvest the funds in Polish property its exempt but there is quick paperwork required. Get an accountant to help you with that.

News / Poland - Third World Country?? [300]

Lodz is a hole but it is not unrepresentative of Poland - there are plenty of worse towns. Try Bytom, Zabrze, Legnica, Opole, Kielce and then literally hundreds of depressing smaller towns.

The parts of Poland that are closing the gap with Europe are co-incidentally the ones where everyone on this forum lives - Warsaw, Poznan, Krakow, Gdansk, Wroclaw and to a lesser extent Katowice and Lublin. Lodz and Szczecin are being left behind.

Law / Public Liability Insuarance and Product Liability Insuarance [7]

Get a broker if you are new here - you may pay a bit extra in your premium but it will save you huge time, allow a quick comparison of offers and prevent misunderstanding later.

Most sorts of insurance are available with plenty of reliable providers but fidelity and D&O are a bit more of a challenge - use a mixture of Generali and Hestia myself. PZU are cheap but in my experience claiming from them is time consuming, involves wasted time in their offices and they are slow to pay out.

Work / Salary indication "Technical Support Analyst" / IT job in Poland [11]

I employ 6, in the range 3000-6000 zloty gross per month with circa 10% in performance bonuses. You can find people ready to work for 2500 but they only ask for a pay rise 6 months later so better to start at a reasonable level. In Warsaw I would say add 15-20% to those figures.

Food / Why is it that some Polish people refuse to eat anything that is not Polish? [120]

Nonsense, they are very open minded - my day in Warsaw

Polish breakfast
Thai for lunch
KFC for dinner
Kebab for post club snack

Think I better stick to the salad tomorrow

Food / Mother of all hangovers....Polish Beer! [71]

I lived here 12 years and now more or less avoid Polish beer. Lech and Okocim I don't like the taste of, Zywiec and Tyskie are more bearable but as the original poster said you have 4 and wake up feeling like you had 14. Zywiec defintiely has some chemical added to make it brew more quickly, which for me seems to have the side effect of inducing ravenous hunger the next morning.

I don't know why the Poles can't get it right - malt, hops and water - simple enough and in Germany and Czech its easily done.

There used to be much more choice - Krakus, Hevelius, Dojlidy, EB, Piast, Krolewskie etc. I don't remember any of them being great but at least it wasnt the same old same old in every pub.

Law / Coffee Heaven (Poland's biggest coffee chain) for sale [33]

I'm amazed they can be losing money with the margins they are making - its always fairly busy and the prices are astronomical by Polish standards - yesterday I had a big coffee, a sandwich and a biscuit and it cost 30 zloty. There are many lower end restuarants or even reasonable pizza places where you could get a full meal for that price

To be fair it was what I wanted at the time, served quickly and perfectly acceptable. However it was by no means top quality ingredients and by comparison a very tasty sit down burger with a couple of beers in Hard Rock in the very center of Warsaw cost only 49 zloty - 100 metres away from the same Coffee Heaven.

I can only conclude that like most Polish retail lessees they are paying vastly inflated rents which they agreed to when they were inexperienced. I think the concept is good (and especially that they are one of the few places you can get a sandwich early in the morning) but honestly reckon they would do more for the bottom line if they dropped their prices slightly and aimed at the lower middle class. 30 zlots is 3 hours wages for a lot of average Poles.

Law / Retail shop, Import tax on textiles, Clothing, Perfume and other to Poland [13]

VAT is 22% on clothes, except baby clothes which are 7%.

Duty depends on the type of item and where it is coming from - get a Polish friend to check the Urzad Celny's webpages. Typically if from China or India it can be 10-15% but many products are totally exempt.

From the EU there is no import tax.