Which activities in Poland can be unregistered

In Poland, since 2018, it is possible to conduct business activity without registering a company under new legal forms. This usually applies to small businesses with a monthly turnover that does not exceed the legally defined amount, which means that the turnover of your company in a month cannot exceed half of the minimum wage (in 2021 this is 1400 PLN per month). The minimum wage is 2800 PLN.

Unregistered business activity – is a small business activity that does not require registering a company. This type of activity is very convenient for beginner entrepreneurs. All other activities must be registered as a sole proprietorship or a commercial law company.

Required conditions:
– You are an individual
– The income from the activity does not exceed 50% of the minimum wage, which is less than or equal to 1400 PLN per month
– You have not conducted any business activities in the last 60 months.

Advantages of unregistered business activity:
– You do not need to keep full accounting records, only simplified accounts
– You do not have to pay contributions to social security institution (ZUS)
– You do not have to inform the Central Registration and Information on Business (CEIDG) about the activity
– You do not need to have tax and statistical numbers (NIP and REGON)
– You do not have to pay social security and health insurance contributions
– You do not need to have a cash register (unless required by the nature of the business – for example, a hairdresser)
– You do not need to keep complex accounting records and pay monthly and quarterly taxes (this also depends on the type of business – for some services, such as legal or consulting services, you have to pay VAT)
– You do not have to issue invoices, unless in exceptional cases.

IMPORTANT! You should remember to declare the income in the annual tax return PIT-36 in the “other income” section, and pay taxes according to the progressive tax scale of 17% and then 32%.

Obligations during unregistered business activity:
– Keeping simplified sales records
– Declaring income (after deducting costs) in the annual tax return PIT-36 according to the tax scale
– Issuing invoices at the request of customers
– Respecting consumer rights

IMPORTANT! You must comply with consumer rights regulations, which means allowing returns within 14 days from the date of sale.

Foreigners’ right to conduct unregistered business activity:

Not all foreigners can conduct unregistered business activity in Poland. According to Polish law, this type of activity can be carried out by foreigners who can establish a sole proprietorship in Poland, namely:
– Foreigners who are citizens of EU Member States or European Economic Area
– Foreigners who are citizens of another country, having:
– Permanent residence card
– Long-term resident EU residence permit
– Temporary residence permit
– Temporary residence permit for family reasons
– Foreigners married to Polish citizens
– Foreigners holding a temporary residence permit for the purpose of conducting business activity, issued in connection with the continuation of already conducted business activity based on entry into the Central Register and Information on Business Activity
– Foreigners holding a valid Polish card

See more on our website about sole proprietorship for foreigners https://progressholding.pl/en/opening-a-company-in-poland/

In Poland, there are also special types of activities that do not require registration regardless of the amount of income obtained. These include:
– Agrotourism
– Winemaking (production not exceeding 100 hectoliters of wine per year)
– Retail sale of agricultural products, provided that they are sold only at retail and at the place of their production, and employees are not employed under an employment contract.