Starting a business in Poland

You have an idea of your own business but you do not know where to start from? Read our brief guide on how to start your business in Poland.

The legal regulations on running business activities in Poland are written down in the Freedom of Economic Activity Bill. However, it is important to know all the regulations one must follow.

What is essential, you have to decide which legal form for your business would be most effective. Foreigners have a couple of options to chose from. However, not every option creates a legal basis to apply for legalizing your stay in Poland. Just read and see on your own.

Self-employment

If you meet the conditions to be self-employed, the procedure is simple. You should fill in the CEIDG-1 form and file it via the Internet or in the nearest local county authority office. The form has to be filled in Polish. Documents confirming your status of a foreigner are necessary. The form and instruction can be found here.

IMPORTANT! The application is totally free of charge. Please avoid any fraud attempts of charging money.

Being self-employed does not entitle a foreigner from outside the EU to legalize his/her stay in Poland. Therefore, only these foreigners who already have a stay permit (e.g. EU-residents, those with refugee status, subsidiary protection, tolerated stay, the Polish Charter ‘Karta Polaka’) should chose this legal form of business activity. You may find further details in the art. 13 of the Freedom of Economic Activity Bill:

Limited Liability Company (‘Spółka z o.o.’)

The solution is recommended for those who are planning a business on a larger scale than the self-employment model. A capital of at least 5,000 PLN is required. When deciding to set up a limited liability company, you should start from visiting a notary who will prepare an initial document – the Articles of Association. Subsequently, you need to register your company in the register of entrepreneurs of the National Court Register (KRS) within 6 months from your visit at the notary. You will need to fill in the KRS, NIP (taxpayer number) and REGON applications including appendixes. In this case, the registration fee needs to be paid.

More information on Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency website.

To register a LLC you will need:

– filled-in forms: KRS-2, NIP-2, REGON
– the Articles of Association
– notarized signatures of company Partner(s)
– proof of payment for entry into the National Court Register (500 PLN) and publication in the Polish Monitor (100 PLN).

Payments can be made by bank transfer to the account of the court or in person at the box office KRS (in Warsaw, ul. Czerniakowska 100, on the ground floor). Registration by the National Court takes approximately 1 month.

Joint Stock Company

Legal form designed for operations on a large scale, hence the process of establishing itself and is complex. Best to ask at the help of a lawyer.

The first step is establishing the company. A visit to the notary will be required. You will sign there a notarial deed containing, inter alia, data of shareholders-founders, the company’s registered office address and data of the board of the company. An initial capital of at least 100,000 PLN is obligatory.

It is crucial to register a joint stock company in the National Court Register. This will allow you to obtain a NIP (taxpayer) and REGON number. The process of the registration in the National Registration Court, is presented in the point regarding Limited Liability Company, above.

For details check also the website of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency.

Establishing a limited liability or joint-stock company entitles you to apply for a temporary residence permit in Poland. However, the company has be active at least one year and meet additional conditions, but there are some exceptions from this rule, too. If you want to learn more, we invite you to consult our lawyer.

TWO HINTS – before we go through the procedures

Hint 1 – in order to set up a company you are required to have a PESEL number.

Hint 2 – there are many types of business entities available to choose from in Poland. To learn more about the differences between them and to see which one suits you best we recommend to read this.

If you need help and advice, write to us to arrange a free consultations.

We wish you best luck in starting your business activity in Poland!