The good news is, Indians can enjoy doing business in Poland. Regardless of the presence of certain restrictions for non-EU citizens, registering a business in the country is very easy. You can have your business started in no time.

How to register a company in Poland

Registering a company in a foreign country requires careful planning if everything is to go smoothly. In most instances, you should get professional help from lawyers for a speedy process. Getting help may also address the language barrier problem if all you know is the Indian language. 

This text will hint at how you can set up a sole proprietorship in Poland. 

Steps in how to register a sole proprietorship

• Confirm that a sole proprietorship is really what you want to register

• Find a Polish accounting office and decide on the income taxation that's best for your venture

• Decide on whether you would like to pay your PIT contributions monthly or quarterly

• Select a form of accounting

• Find a suitable name for your business

• Prepare your registered office (business) address

• Choose a PKD defining your business activity

• Decide whether you would like to open a bank account for the business, if using an existing one, decide if you want to register for VAT

• Complete the CEIDG-1 form

• Make a registration with ZUS

• Make sure your bank account and PESEL data are updated in the CEIDG-1 form

NB: The registrations done in the ZUS and CEIDG are free

Restrictions

Being a non-EU citizen will attract certain restrictions when registering your business. Thus, before you commence with the registration processes, you may need to visit the Migrant.info page. You will find a list of conditions that you should meet to successfully register your sole proprietorship. If you cannot meet the conditions, you can always find another suitable business activity.

Regulated activity

After verifying that you're eligible for registering a sole proprietorship, it's important to find out if there are no additional restrictions for your business activities. You can figure this out by yourself if you can speak Polish or if you have a Polish speaker for assistance. The information you need may be found on the Polish page.

• Finding an accounting office

In Poland, entrepreneurs can have three options. They can either do their accounting, contract their bookkeeping to a chosen accounting office, or hire an accountant. Doing your accounting is feasible but hard, and hiring an expert accountant can be very expensive (average monthly gross salary is 3,500 PLN). Your best option will be to contract to an accounting office. 

Unfortunately, there are only a few offices that work for foreigners who don't speak Polish. When you find an English speaking accounting office, you should inquire if they can represent you at the tax office. And also, you should ask to know if they can help you throughout the registration process. Their presence may help you to make good decisions along the way.

• Tax advisors

Although you might have an accountancy office, you need a certified tax advisor. An accountancy office is not allowed to advise, share an opinion, or give explanations concerning tax in Poland. Only a certified tax advisor is allowed to do so.

• Decide the best form of income taxation suitable for your business

Normally, entrepreneurs who are registered in the CEIDG can pay Personal Income Tax (PIT) just like employees. However, they differ with employees on the fact they can choose from four taxation forms. You need to make inquiries to learn about the taxation forms

• PIT contributions

During your company registration processes, you should choose whether to pay PIT contributions monthly or quarterly. A third option is also available, the simplified payment system. However, you cannot select this option during the process of registration.

• Choose a company name

The name you choose can include the owner's name, and you can always add something more. Overall it has to be unique.

• Prepare your business address

You need to provide the address where you will be conducting business. The address will be published on the CEIDG website. Commonly, sole proprietor owners may use their private addresses (usually rented flats). During the registration process, no one will ask for the tenancy contract, but it's important to provide the correct address of the property you're renting.

• Choose PKD codes

It's imperative to indicate the PKD codes (Polish Classification of Activities) during the business registration process. PKD codes reveal the specific business activities of your company. You can change the codes any time, freely.

• Choosing a bank for your business

You can open a new bank account for your business, or rather use a personal bank account. A personal bank account can be used only when you are its sole owner (e.g. without a spouse involved). If you choose to use a personal account, you can provide it during the registration, but if you need to set up a new account, you may provide it after obtaining confirmation of your company registration.

What's more?

After all preparations have been made, you should decide whether you want to register for VAT. To choose wisely, you may have to consult experts. Usually, VAT registered taxpayers are required to add a 5%/8%/23% tax amounts to their prices.