Paladine
6 Aug 2013
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
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