How to register a new business in Poland

So I just ran into a major hurdle with setting up my company. I submitted my EDG-1 'notice of starting economic activity' on Aug 10th. Finally, they contacted my accountant yesterday about the status of my application - it's a negative.

I'm a U.S. citizen, have been working and living in Poland legally for over a year now and I have a karta pobytu valid until December of this year (which I would extend, naturally).

But apparently because the residency decision was based on my having a contract with a language school, I am not allowed to start a business. I can live and work legally, but cannot start a business unless I have 'long term' permission to reside in Poland (i.e. for study or family reasons, etc.).

I'm going to go to the Urząd Wojewódzki in Warsaw first thing tomorrow to try and get this sorted out, or find out how to get 'long term' permission.

Has anyone ran into a similar obstacle? I'd really appreciate some advice. Most of my clients/students this semester require invoices!

The simplest way is to simply speak to people you know who have their own companies and get them to issue invoices for you (you can give them a small amount of cash for their time and trouble).

Another way round it would be to register your company for things other than teaching. Translation and general secretarial services would be a good one. Then you can just give your clients invoices for copyediting documents (which was what most of my corporate clients used to ask for anyway; if they didn't, there could have been a taxable benefit for the student, i.e. the lessons). The downside is that you then have to add VAT but for corporate clients that won't matter anyway.

Thanks for the ideas Harry. I do know someone with their own company. He agreed to let me 'use' his company to issue invoices. That will work for the time being.

The problem isn't the kind of activity of the company, it's setting up the company itself.

The people at information on Długa 5 told me today that I CANNOT set up a company under my current visa. This is because the visa was done through a language school and starting a company is PROHIBITED under this kind of visa. If I want to start a company, they said, I will have to RETURN to the USA and apply for a business visa at the Polish consulate in the USA.

The only way an American can set up a small business in Poland (sole proprietorship) is under a visa which was issued as a result of 1) marriage to a Polish citizen 2) having Polish relatives 3) having permission for a 'long stay' in Poland.

That's it, as I understand it. So Americans without Polish wives are sh*t outta luck if they want to start a biz from within Poland. And that's really lame.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong!

master shake you can't be a sole proprietor of course, but you can open Spolka Z o.o. (polish LLC) and employ yourself there. So it is possible to work on yourself without polish wife there.

I think you kinda answered your own question here.

However, being a non-EU member (from Brazil) is it possible to open a small partnership company and use the EU Funds ?

I think it's exactly the same for Polish citizens who want to start businesses in America - they need to return, get the right visa and then come back. As I understand it though, the general idea is that you can't "upgrade" a visa from within a country - you need to leave and then reapply for the right one.

I've never understood the logic behind this, but the world seems to work that way.

HOWEVER - what you could do is simply hand back the Karta Pobytu and begin your 90 days on the tourist stamp. It's perfectly allowed to start a business while the 90 day clock is ticking - it's the normal process for Americans without work permits here.


Forget it. EU funds are in very short supply at the minute for profit making businesses.

i am interesting also in that

Merged:Registering a company in Poland

Hi there,

Can any one help with a few questions the i have:

What would be involved in registering a company in Poland, costs and requirements etc.

Also whether Auctioneers need to be registered in Poland and whether they need a license to operate.

thanks

walter

Hello walter2010,

And welcome to the Polish forums.

You can use the search box in the top right corner of the screen, if you scroll up.
Just type in key words to find what you are looking for.

For example, I came up with these:

polishforums.com/business-economy-14/to-register-new-business-poland-31224/]How to register a new business in Poland

polishforums.com/archives/2009/business-economy-14/registered-office-polish-company-37652/]Registered office for Polish Company

links merged


I don't know the answer to this.

Good luck.

This post and links are very helpful. The real opinion from other persons is more better then just regulation of law

I have coordinated a set up a UK company in Poland. It has now been successfully operating for 5 years.

Poland is a great place to be in.
Labour costs are quite low (in comparison to other European countries). English is commonly spoken among people of the age of 30 and below. People are hard working, ambitious and pro-active. Companies like IBM or HP have selected Poland as their prime European location, employing thousands of people.

As you can see from above, company set-up process is not trivial... and certainly red tape makes your life a little more difficult than it should be. However... is this something you want to focus on? Think what you are going to save and what business objectives will be achieved.

Surely, moving part of your workforce to another country involves risks. If you are looking for a way to mitigate this risk and work with a partner who has helped others reduce costs and survive the crisis, let me know.

nearshore.poland@gmail

Merged:an american-how to open up a business in Poland-what is necessary-what to look out for

hi guys

I'm glad I found this forum, hopefully will have my questions answered here.

Well anyway, just like in the topic, I'm an american, and I hoping to open up a business in Poland this summer. Can someone please tell me step by step what I should do.

best regards

Mike

Hi Makim

For a start, use the forum search facility as this has been raised many times in threads before. (Actually, search for setting up a company, as this is your first step).

A

Maybe somebody could suggest how a EU company can register a PO box address in Poland?
We need this service and I have heard that it is possible, but I could not find a provider of such service.

Every post office can do this for you.

Apart from that, you can try: mbe.com.pl

Merged: HOW TO - Setting up a business as a NON-EU citizen

Hello,

I'm a non eu citizen currently who currently has a temporary french residence permit and a business in France.
I would like to come to Poland and start a web development business and after having a look on the numerous sources of information available on the internet, I'm not quit sure I have a clear image of what has to be done stepwise for me to start here.

It seems that the first step for me would be to ask for a Residence permit and that the reason for it would be
starting a business.

I was hoping someone here could help point me in which direction i should go to start the appropriate procedures.

Thanks for any help.

should seek assistance from Polish consulate in your area where you are living about any questions you have regarding this matter they would be the one to help you to the point.

thank you.

and yes please do email me as well about what is the minimum finance required to start a small business in UK food stuff. i am from UAE.

my email is

jesse_james_42@hotmail

thank you again.

I am from Asia and am interested in setting up a small sole trader business in Poland.
If you can guide me pls send me detailed information about procedure and costs etc
direct to: apnaquestion@gawab.com

Tks
Ahmed

There have been a lot of previous threads about this, do a search.

Also:

paiz.gov.pl/polish_law/forms_of_doing_business

i am from Iran-tehran.
i want to establish limited laibilty company in Poland.
If you can guide me pls send me detailed information about procedure and costs etc...
to my address:ir@noorgamchimi.net
if you know about term and conditon of export and import from Poland please inform me.

best regards
Jimi

gregor
Hi Gregor,

Could you provide me any consulting company's address in Lublin, those provide rooms for business purpose.

Regards,
Sanjay

I guys I have registered a company in Krakow, I went to the registration office, I have a registered address this was all done 7 days ago, does the one window registration system include a REGON number or did I need to register elsewhere?

As far as I know, registering a company passes all the information to all departments, it just takes time for them to process is this correct?

I am trying to register a .pl domain name, so I can begin trading asap but until such time as my REGON number comes through there is nothing I can do.

Why do you need a REGON number and a NIP Number its all very complicated to me.

In England unless you are a Ltd company I don't think you need more than your Tax Code and National Insurance Number.

This is similar to the NIP Code I understand - but why must every business be registered for more than just tax?

Thanks
Stuart

yes - REGON is for statistical institutions as far as I know (GUS) and it's issued so that there is central identity database to all people and companies who run some economic activities an are supposed to pay tax

When I registered my business and they gave me the information on CEIDG.pl will they pass the details onto REGON department or do I need to contact them directly?

It should (unless something is odd in Krakow) include the REGON.


It'll come, don't stress. The REGON normally gets issued within about 2 weeks. I always advised people (you did get advice, right?) to allow around 4-6 weeks from registration to actually starting the business.


The REGON is just a statistical number - brought in to fufil EU regulations on statistics. Essentially - the NIP is your NI/Tax number, and the REGON acts as a statistical number.


Yep, and they'll also use it to contact businesses for information about their business. I had a period where every 3 months, I was being sent constant requests to fill out some nonsense online.


It'll go through automatically.

However, if you need to ask such questions - are you prepared to run a business in Poland?

Well I am new to Poland, and I am learning, I met a friend whom needed a job whilst I was on holiday, and I had been looking to expand my UK Business into Europe, so I went to bank and sought there advice, I have a contact in the Registration Office in Poland and she said she will help me because she doesn't get many English people starting business in Poland and is very grateful that I will pay tax in Poland and prop up her pension and even better I will employ somebody and they too will pay tax in Poland and prop up her pension.

I will also seek the services of a book keeper who will understand the rules much better than me.

I only wondered who long it should usually take for a REGON number because you can't even register a domain without it.

I don't recall registering a domain in england requiring a national insurance number or tax code!

They need to simplify the registration system on domains..

The Business will be a web based business selling computer software mainly advertising through Gumtree and Tablica, selling via its own website (when I can register it) and getting paid via PayPal.pl as far as I can see its no different to running the business in the UK what else do I need to know?

I'll be as polite as possible : you need to know a hell of a lot more.

Poland isn't like the UK, things aren't so well developed here, things aren't as simple as they might seem. You might think it's easy to run a business in Poland (and in the beginning, it is easy - don't get me wrong) - until something goes wrong. It can be as simple as not filling out statistical information, or as complicated as the tax office raising a query with your accounts and your bookkeeper is out of his/her depth.

But just for kicks, I'll give you a real life example.

I know someone who forgot to file the paperwork for VAT registration after going through the VAT ceiling. They contacted the tax office straight away, and they were fined the amount between current turnover and the VAT ceiling - plus a 100% fine on top of that. In short - it came to around 30,000zl. And that was just one small case.

If you really don't know much about Poland, you need to be exceptionally careful. It might sound simple - but what are you going to do when, for instance, you need to go to the tax office?

Is CEIDG the tax office or is that a different office? In Krakow I think they were in the same building but on different floors, but I have Polish speaking staff who are working with me, and when required will go to the Tax Office with me. I am not just looking to employ a book keeper on the minimum wage who fresh out of school, I will employ a proper accountant who knows what he is doing.

Can you tell me what is the ceiling for Polish VAT? The bank account I am going to open has a limit of 150,000 Zlottys how close is that to the threshold?

I don't expect the business to turn over much more than 10-20,000 Zlotty in the first year. If it sells more than that all well and good, but be advised this is a Small Enterprise to start with.

Figures are based on UK Sales.

Thank you for all your advice in all threads Delphiandomine.. I understand I most look like some stupid brit things he can just turn up and start a business in Poland - and perhaps I am, it was a last minute decision to start the business here, but I will learn what I need to learn, and hope that through this forum and also through people I meet I can gain knowledge, information and friends to help me along the way in this learning curve.

Thank you once again.

That's just the new name for the new system of business registration.


Trust me, in Poland, there's no such thing as "who knows what he's doing". Unlike in the UK, where you pay for what you get - Poland is much more wild. My accountant charges 123zl a month and does a fantastic job - but there are plenty of cowboys who charge 10 times that and do a worse job.


That's the threshold. However, that's very odd that there's a limit on the bank account - my business account has no limits.

I can only give you one piece of advice - trust no-one and verify absolutely everything you're told.