Single-member company (self-employment)
Self-employment is one of the simplest organizational forms of conducting business activity. Is subject to entry in the CEIDG. The entrepreneur may take up business activity on the day of submitting the entry application unless he provides a later date in the application. A CEIDG entry certificate is a printout form the system's website. It is worth knowing that public authorities cannot demand the entrepreneur to show, transfer or enclose CEIDG entry certificates to applications. An entrepreneur's identification number in the CEIDG is the tax identification number (NIP).
Preferred scale of activity |
Conducting business activity on a small scale. |
Company |
Must include the name and the surname of a natural person. May also include other discretional designations, e.g. Jan Kowalski Business-Utility Enterprise; Maria Nowak “Homemade food” - catering services. |
Appropriate register |
Central Registration and Information on Business (CEIDG). |
Minimum capital |
Minimum capital not required. |
Founders/partners |
A natural person, including a foreigner with the restrictions provided for in article 13 of the Act on freedom of business activity |
Representation |
A self-employed entrepreneur acts in his own name. However, he may appoint an attorney to manage his affairs. Giving power of attorney is subject to disclosure in the CEIDG. |
Taxation |
The income of a person conducting individual business activity is taxable by personal income tax (PIT). Moreover, an entrepreneur may be subject to VAT taxation if he obtains the status of such a taxpayer because of actual facts of the case, as provided in The Goods and Services Act (article 5, article 113 sections 1 and 13). |
ZUS premiums |
Note: beginner entrepreneurs have the right to a so-called Small ZUS, that is lower social premiums for the first two years of activity. These premiums are paid based on a decreased assessment, that is a 30% of the projected average monthly salary. Details on http://www.zus.pl/. |
Liability |
The entrepreneur bears full liability with his personal assets for public- and civil-law obligations. This means, that in case of failure of business activity, the potential execution against the entrepreneur may be upon all of his personal assets (e.g. real estate, remuneration and profits from other business activity). |
Actions necessary to establish a single-member company:
Submission of an application to the Central Registration and Information on Business. The application is free of charge.
- The application has to be submitted on the CEIDG-1 form with proper attachments, which may be other forms, online through www.ceidg.gov.pl website or in a municipal office. A foreigner does not have to complete the sections regarding PESEL and NIP numbers unless he has those numbers. Together with the application, foreigners have to leave for perusal the original of a document confirming their status. While filling in the form, an entrepreneur is obliged to specify the type of activity conducted in accordance with the Classification of Business Activity in Poland (PKD). Perusal of the PKD codes is provided by the authority accepting the application. This classification is also available here. While providing the PKD 2007 codes the prevailing type of activity has to be indicated. It is determined on the basis of the biggest projected or factual profit gained from sales of products (goods and services), as well as commodities and materials.
- An entrepreneur’s statement on the chosen form of income tax taxation and on the form of advance payment has to be enclosed to the CEIDG entry application. If the tax card was chosen, PIT-16 may be enclosed to the application. A change in the form of taxation in the course of conducting business activity is possible only on the grounds specified by tax regulations. The chosen taxation form is binding until the end of the fiscal year. If an entrepreneur does not choose upon registration of the company, he has to apply to the Inland Revenue Office.
- According to the „one counter” rule, the registration authority will send the application by electronic means to :
- an adequate Inland Revenue Office for the purpose of reporting for taxation,
- an adequate Central Statistical Office for the purpose of obtaining the entrepreneur’s REGON number (the statistical number of a business entity in The National Official Register of Nationalised Industry Units),
- the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS).
ZUS registration
Based on information provided in the CEIDG-1 application, ZUS prepares the first declaration of apremium payer without the need of completing and submitting it in person.
However, an entrepreneur has to apply for insurance on his own: on the ZUS ZUA form (insurance declaration/change in personal data of the person insured) if he is subject to both social and health insurance or the ZUS ZZA (health insurance declaration/change in data) if he is subject only to health insurance. Reporting oneself for insurance has to be done within 7 days of the commencement of business activity.
Sickness insurance is voluntary for an entrepreneur (ZUS will cover him with this insurance only if he applies for it – relevant information has to be indicated on the ZUS ZUA form and the application may be submitted at any time during business activity).
VAT registration
An entrepreneur who wants to become a VAT taxpayer is obliged to submit to the Head of the Inland Revenue Office a registration application regarding value added tax on the VAT-R form. The VAT-R form may be submitted online upon making a CEIDG application, but an electronic signature verified by a qualified certificate is required. Otherwise, the form has to be submitted to an Inland Revenue Office.
On 1st January 2015 the obligatory duty to confirm VAT-R registration application was abolished. The Head of the
Inland Revenue Office will confirm a taxpayer’s registration only at his request (confirmation procedure is subject to stamp duty of 170 PLN).
Obtaining a licence, a permit or antry in the Regulated Activity Register.
Over 80 forms of business activity are still under government control and conducting them requires :
- licences (article 46 of the Act on freedom of business activity),
- permits (the list of permits is included in the Act on freedom of business activity, and specific conditions of their execution are provided in separate acts, e.g. the Geological and Mining Law or the Energy Law Act, article 75 of the Act on freedom of business activity), or
- entry in the Regulated Activity Register (a given type of business activity is regulated if a separate act provides so). This means, that in case of licences and permits it is necessary to apply for them to a competent authority. As regards regulated activity, it is sufficient to make a declaration on complying with conditions required to conduct a given type of business activity. As a rule, only after obtaining a licence, a permit or a confirmation of entry in the Regulated Activity Register, it is possible to commence business activity (article 64 of the Act on freedom of business activity, List of regulated activities in alphabetical order).
Opening a company bank account.
The requirement of having a bank account results from provisions of law including: the Act on freedom of business activity, The Goods and Services Act or Tax Ordinance. Depending on the bank, to open a bank account the following are required:
- an identity card,
- a CEIDG entry certificate in the form of a printout from CEIDG website, a copy of a certificate of having been given the REGON number (the original available for perusal),
- an official company stamp – it is worth making one, as other financial and banking transactions may require it; it has to include (at least) the following information: the company’s full business name, its registered office and NIP.
If the bank account was opened after the CEIDG registration, the Inland Revenue Office and ZUS have to be informed about it through a data update in the CEIDG system.