Setting up small business in Poland?

Back to "a very small business".
May be a very small help from institutions in Cracow:
krakow.pl/english/5668,artykul,business_environment.html
A very good and comprehensive page, but in Polish:
krakow.pl/biznes/8,glowna.html Click menu in the right corner: "Punkt Obsługi Przedsiębiorcy". Use ling.pl or Google translator. You can find there all forms, law acts and procedures you need and some advices.

Basic steps of small business for Poles and residents in Cracow are:
1. business registration (15 min+queue)
2. statistic registration REGON (15 min in the same place)
3. tax registration NIP (in tax administration client must wait 1-3 days for NIP number)
4. social security registration ZUS (may be not for foreigners??)
But the first of all is a good bookkeeper who can give someone an advice or arrange all.
Your fiend must remember the chliche: foreigner=dough (perhaps no longer in Cracow or Warsaw). In the country not wealthy foreigner from (old) EU or US is like the rhinoceros without horn.

PeterKRK and Inkrakow, thank you

Hi I am starting a language school in Gdansk and have had conflicting advice on setting up and registering the business. I have done my own research online and think the process is . first apply for a Nip number and Pessel, I am the sole owner of the business it is not partnership? is there any other registration I have to do? I.e i think i can set up as a sole trader. i will be employing a teacher , but will start off just by myself taking classes. Any advice please, would be most helpful as I have had such different advice from some polish friends here.

cambridgemark

Delph would have been the perfect person to answer this question but the mods suspended him

having said that he would have also gone into a rant about the state of the teaching market in Poland

when you say employ another teacher do you mean employ or simply cooperate with?

please tell us more about this other teacher

Yes. Tim to bring Delph and Harry back.


First go to the town hall and register according to the category your work falls into. Then take the bit of paper to the tax office for a NIP - you might have to wait a while, but you can use your own NIP for a sole trader business - same with the bank account. Then go to GUS for a REGON. Then to ZUS to register for National Insurance.. You don't need a PESEL (I've never had one in 12 years). Throw nothing away. Take a Polish person with you if you don't speak the language well.

davidpeake
hi!best wishes,i am from bangladesh(beside india).i want to start a'' take away indian fast food'' bussines in poland.my capital(us$10,000aprox),would you please advice me how can i proceed?if needed i am ready to take a local partner...pls inform...Abu (meghpd@yahoo)

What will your school be called? I'd like to know because friends of mine in Gdańsk are looking for a school and it would be useful to know where not to send them.

Krzysztof100
hi! i am from bangladesh ,also interested to set up a small food bussines in poland ,would you please advice me... meghpd@yahoo

hey thanks, I am having problems now registering and obtaining a pessel. I think Gdansk is way behind the times and operating on a level comparable to 30 years ago, it is interesting about not needing a pessel.. so it is back to the town hall and registering. the main problem I came up against was being registered by a property owner as living at an address, most will not do it and every Polish person I know is not registered... but I will plug away and let you know how I get on. good news about pessel though, because it is that office here that is creating all the problems.

I have some :Polish friends who are helping me in this and in answer to the first reply, we are 'cooperating'.

last question, ha, yes very funny.. I know for sure it will be better than the exiting schools here. I hear complaints from disgruntled students.

Hi Krzystof,

Kindly share your email id or contact details as I am getting relocated to Poland in a weeks time and need some advise.

Thank you !!

Merged: How do you go about setting up your own company in Poland as a teacher?

It's all in the title.

Check out some of the other threads on this.

it depends which country you are a citizen of.

Based on that, you may have many options or not as to what kind you can set up.

English

If you do not know how to establish new company, think about buying new ready-made company. Sometimes it is better solution because you don't waste your time for bureaucracy.

You can write to us: biuro(at)rise.com.pl

davidpeake
Hi David.... I'm also from Australia and trying to start a business in Poland.... would you mind if I contacted you? (you can email me if yes....)

my s.o. found this step-by-step guide, titled "Individual Pursuit of Business Activities as a Natural Person (Self-Employment)" (google, it's on EURES/Poland) looks like many here need it!

Hi,
I'm thinking about creating a Polish small company, that would mostly be involved in IT stuff. I've read all the procedure documents and stuff, looks pretty doable for a foreign citizen, but I've still got a few questions I'd like somebody to clarify:

1. Can I use a rented flat for a legal address? If not, what's the lowest-cost option for a legal address? I don't need space, I just need a mailbox I guess.

2. Is it possible to initially do accounting without hiring an accountant? Are there any good guides for that online?

Thanks in advance.

Hey Krzysztof, I am currently looking for a lawyer that could help me with immigration/business questions. I tried to e-mail you, but I have to to post 3 times before I can do that. I will also need someone to handle the paperwork, so if you are interested email me chilly296 at yahoo

Thanks
-Chilly

Hi All,

We have recently formed a consulting company. QCI Consulting was founded with a single minded focus on supporting foreign investors in achieving long-term business success in the Polish market. We do not only dedicate its services to start-ups but also to companies which are striving for increasing market share and competitiveness in their field.

If you have any questions or there is anything that we can to do assist you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,
QCI Consulting Team
qciconsulting.pl
office a_t qciconsulting.pl

Dear Sir,

Kindly guide me how to setup a small company in poland

Waiting for your reply

Regards

Jawaid Choudhry

jawaid.ch@hotmail

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

I have no idea how are things in UK but this might be useful for you:

ksup23.blogspot.com/2013/08/so-you-are-interested-in-investing-in .html

Thanks for the reply Malone it helped a little although it still seems like a mine field.

I would also like to know what the average full time salary is for the following roles in Lodz (preferably with links to resources supporting replies):

Accountant
Business Lawyer
Web Developer (PHP, MySQL, XHTML, HTML 5, CSS2 & 3, Javascript, AJAX experience essential)
System Administrator (GNU/Linux, MySQL, Apache/Nginx (including clustering), Postfix, Dovecot, CLI scripting languages (including bash, sed, perl) experience essential)
Programmer (development of applications for Windows, GNU/Linux, iOS, Windows Phone, Android and strong knowledge of cryptography essential)
Social Media Specialist (track record in promoting brands on social media including Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Reddit essential)

All roles include a requirement to being able to competently speak and write English.

I look forward to replies - please try to provide links to sources rather than just telling me what you think they should be paid.

Thanks.

Also would like information on costs for the following (again for Lodz):

1. Modern office space: preferably with 7 rooms following dimensions (or close):
Reception (3m x 4m)
Main Office (8m x 10m)
Manager Office (3m x 4m)
Server Room (2m x 3m)
Conference Room (6m x 4m)
Bathroom (WC)
Kitchen (3m x 2m)

or

Single open space which can be partitioned into "rooms" above (150 square meters approx)

Air Conditioning Preferable or permission to install (essential)
Parking for up to 10 cars also desirable but not essential

2. Power and other utility costs for above office space

3. Internet costs (high speed with minimum 100Mbit download & 30Mbit upload (symmetrical line preferable))

The office must be in a desirable location and a modern facility with clean facade and structural integrity.

I think you'll find that anyone willing to go into such in-depth detail will want paid for their advice.


If it's consultancy, then you have to register for VAT.

I will tell you for nothing that for a sp. z o.o, an accountant is all but mandatory. You're looking at a minimum of 500zl+VAT for such services (more if they're English speaking) per month.

I am seeing nothing in the regulations which states an accountant is mandatory for S.P.Z.O.O - can you please provide a source?

Its not mandatory but what delph is saying is that in practice without one your life will be a misery. This is correct !

I don't see how, it is simply a case of filing vat each month - which is neither complicated to calculate nor (from what I have seen) complicated to file. Given the international nature of my work, I suspect most of the time they will actually be paying me rather than the other way round. Most of my invoices will be non VATable as most of my revenues will be generated outside of the EU and very little if any is expected from directly within Poland.

You may want to ask your Polish accountant about the VAT reverse charge mechanism in Poland related to your cross border activities.


He is going to need an accountant without doubt, better to go with a Spółka komandytowa than a sp z.o.o. Lower costs to administer.

My understanding of European law (which includes Poland) on VAT is that you do not charge VAT on any invoices issued outside of the EU period. Last I checked Poland wasn't immune to EU law? Perhaps if you could provide a reference to support your post it would help clarify?

According to KPMG:

Non-Polish Entities
Non-Polish entities that carry on taxable supplies in Poland are obliged to register for VAT regardless of their taxable turnover.

However, non-Polish entities are not obliged to register if they affect only certain activities, such as for example:

 supplies of goods for which the VAT is settled by the customer (reverse charge)
 supplies of services for which the VAT is settled by the customer (reverse charge).

If your business is not registered for VAT in Poland but sells and delivers goods from another EU Member State to customers in Poland who are not VAT registered (distance sales), where the value of those sales exceeds a threshold of PLN160K, your business is required to register and account for VAT in Poland.

So if I am only supplying B2B consultancy services to customers outside of Poland, I presume that means I am not even required to register for VAT.