Polish employer suggests I have my own company in UK

I intend to move to Poland (Warsaw) in the near future to live and work.

One potential Polish employer has suggested I work as a UK contractor, having my own business (self-employed) in the UK.

I'm not clear on what my financial responsibilities will be when I am in Poland re: tax, ZUS, etc. or even if this idea is legal (or moral?)

it is legal as long as the UK is in the EU at least - is it moral - hmm no - you would have to pay British social and health and I guess taxes - someone will clear that for you I expect

If you become a Polish resident, there is some paperwork. There's a (British run) Polish law firm who publish some useful information on this. When I get back home, I'll have a look for their details.

I don't see a moral problem but I just don't see the logic - you would have to pay corporate income tax in the UK and then Polish tax on whatever method you use to pay yourself - salary up to 32 percent or dividends at 19 percent. So you would end up with quite a high rate of tax.

If you just set up a standard Dzialalnosc then you would pay 19 percent tax plus the fixed ZUS amount. That is a fair tax rate in my view, assuming you have a regular source of income and can cover the ZUS.

don't do that. US (urzad skarbowy) will demand from you unpaid taxes etc, if you live and work mostly in Poland and have your company registered abroad (UK or Czechia). it's well-known scam for naive people

This is the key. If a visitor comes and issues a bill, it isn't an issue. If someone living there is doing it, it becomes an issue. The Urząd Skarbowy employ special teams to hunt this down.

I attended a presentation on how it can be done legally - the gist was that you still need to register a branch of your business there and may as well just register the whole thing in Poland.

However before you take that as advice (or not) wait a bit, since it's just from a memory of something over a decade ago and may not apply to your kind of business, and I'll post you a link to the people who did the presentation.

I guess the potential employer just doesn't want to give you a proper job contract and wants you to be self-employed.
The costs of being self-employed in Poland are much higher. You need to pay around 1100 zl per month to ZUS regardless of how much you earn plus tax. I'm not sure how much it is in the UK but I hear it's less than 100 zł per month - you would have to check it yourself.

Also, tax free allowance in Poland is about 3000 zł while in the UK it's about 11000 pounds, I think ...

He would not be entitled to the UK tax free allowance if resident in Poland.

These links may be useful for you. Remember, Poles often say 'company' or 'firm' when they actually just mean self-employed person; they confuse this. If you're self-employed in the UK, it's too informal for Poland. You would need to have a Limited Company to be able to use it in PL.

It's probably easier just to register as self-employed (Jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza) in Poland. There's plenty of advice on here about how to do it.

These links are about using a UK entity in Poland, a well as being self-employed.
accountingweb.co.uk/community/blogs/aexea/limited-company-opening-a-branch-in-poland
contractorcalculator.co.uk/contractor_guide_contracting_overseas_poland.aspx
contractortaxation.com/book/export/html/25583

it might be easier - but the ZUS cost is very steep

He'd need to pay it anyway if he's working in Poland.

ask taxi drivers who are registered as Lithuanian, Czech, or UK companies - it's called social security dumping

And it's completely wrong. Live in Poland, pay Polish taxes. Seems fair to me.

Ask the authorities whoi are very quick to investigate such things - scams can and do come back and bite people.

The costs of being self employed in Poland are really high. Some people try to avoid it by registering their businesses abroad. I have personally heard of countries like the UK, Slovakia or even Malta. That is probably the reason why you were advised something like that.

However, if it's your first business (being self employed), you get a 'discount' for your monthly ZUS payments - about 500 instead of 1100. But I'm not sure if that applies to foreigners, too.

Keep in mind, you may need to get someone to do the accounting if you can't do it yourself.

It does, certainly if he's from within the EU.


I've personally done translations for the tax office about this. The department that goes after people who do this. They are not known for leniency, especially if VAT is involved too.

Any sort of tax fiddle is dodgy, particulalry now that it's easy to prove if someone is actually residing in Poland and issuing bills as if they were abroad.

That's why I always issue an invoice, even when people say "Oh, don't worry, I don't need one". I might do a freebie or accept a bottle of Scotch, but when it comes to money changing hands honesty is the best policy. Apart from not wanting to get caught, there is also the small matter of roads, hospitals, schools and, of course, politicians' salaries to be considered.

It does apply.


And even if you've been 100% honest, the hassle of justifying each and every expense for the last five years must be immense.

Yes. Any and every branch of the tax office has people working full time on this matter - and they take it very seriously.


Quite. taxes can seem high, however most places without them or another source of national income are very unpleasant for everyone there.

Thanks for all the responses so far, appreciated.

The company is called "Teleaudio DWA". I don't know much about them apart from their web site (and their offer of employment in their software department).

Can any members offer any experience with this company?