How to register your business?

Business begins with registration in the Central Registration and Information on Business, run by the minister responsible for the economy. The application is made on a special form, which in addition to the application for entry in the register, is the request for issuing entry in the national official register of national economy entities (REGON), as well as the request for an identification or update referred to in legal provisions on registration and identification of taxpayers and withholding agents, and also application social security system or social insurance for farmers. This form also allows you to choose the form of taxation.

Please note that an additional visit to the tax office will be required, to i.e. register for VAT. This operation should be performed prior to obtaining the first revenues.

Through the same application form any changes shall be reported within 7 days of their occurrence.

The form is available on the website https://prod.ceidg.gov.pl/ceidg.cms.engine/

Following an application in CEIDG, but no later than 7 days from the date of commencement of business activities, filled in ZUA form (if the activity is our sole source of income) or ZZA form (when we are simultaneously employed on a contract of employment, earning more than the minimum wage) should be submitted at any branch of Social Security.

Lower premiums for Social Insurance Institution

Since the August the 24th, 2005, beginning entrepreneurs have the right to pay the lower social security premiums. However, the premiums may be paid only by those people who started the business activity after the day the amendment to the Law on Social Insurance System came into force. Moreover, within 60 months before starting the business activity such a person did not run any other business activity. Worth remembering is that the discount applies only to the first twenty-four months of conducting the activity.

Premiums for insurance against such fixed base may pay only persons engaged in non-agricultural activity on the basis of business regulations or other specific provisions, including members of the private partnership.
You would not be entitled to the discount if you, while running your business activity, were carrying out activities for your former employer with whom you, in the year of starting the business or the previous calendar year, signed an employment contract or a cooperative work relationship and performed duties falling within the scope of your business activity.

Important information

There is no obligation to report to the National Labour Inspectorate and the State Sanitary Inspection details concerning the place, type and extent of held business activity or changes in this respect.

It is also good to get a company stamp, as on most official forms there is a special field dedicated to it, you can also use it on contracts and the invoices.

The stamp usually includes:

• the full name of the company (along with the name of entrepreneur)
• company address,
• possibly telephone and fax number,
• REGON,
• TAX number.

In transactions related to your business, you can use a personal account or pay with cash, there is no obligation to have a business account. The requirement of a business account is in case of transactions that excess  15 000 EUR.

good to know

If we decide to operate in the form of a partnership or company, we are obliged to make registration in the National Court Register, maintained by the district courts of proper jurisdiction for the place of registered office of the company created. The appropriate forms are available in the courts.

Obtaining an entry in the register or KRS however, may be insufficient to undertake a business activity. It is partly due to the fact that conducting many kinds of the business activities require to have appropriate professional qualifications (entrepreneurs are obliged to ensure that the skills are possessed). However usually the entrepreneur does not have to have these skills himself, it is sufficient to hire people with the necessary qualifications to perform specific tasks. The exception, however, are certain professions (e.g., medical and legal), which require the  entrepreneur to possess  the qualifications.

Another group of legal barriers to be overcame in order to be able to make the legalization of our business, is so-called regulation of business activity, i.e. the obligation to obtain a license, permit or registration in the register of regulated activity. Such duties concerns more than 80 types of economic activity.

What is regulation? Simply put, it means that we cannot start the business if we do not meet as provided by law, the specific terms and conditions. In the case of licenses and permits we must apply to the competent authority. In the case of regulated activity it is sufficient if we make a real statement of compliance with these conditions. We can begin to operate only after obtaining the license, permit or certificate of registration in the register of regulated activity. The exception to this rule is a regulated activity, which can be taken even after 14 days from the submission of the above mentioned statement, if nothing has been done by the registration body in our case.

People who are planning to start a business, should determine what will their company be dealing with. Therefore, you must select the appropriate code from the Polish Classification of Activities PKD 2007, which are available on the GUS (Central Statistical Office) website or use the search engine of PKD codes on EUGO website.