Registration of a company and an individual entrepreneur in Poland follows a similar procedure as in other countries with a choice of organizational form, types of activities, forms of taxation and other conditions. Below are some features when opening and registering a business in Poland and useful links.

You can register a company and an individual entrepreneur in Poland online, in person or by proxy. Foreigners can register a business in Poland if they are of age and capable.

The company must be registered with the National Court Register (Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy, KRS). The Biz.gov.pl portal provides complete and step-by-step information on registering a company in Poland. Applications to KRS can only be submitted electronically:

• If the memorandum of association for the organization of the company were concluded through a notary, then through the Portal of Court Registers (Portal Rejestrów Sądowych, PRS). The link provides instruction for registering an account on the Court Registry Portal. An electronically qualified signature is required to create an account and sign documents (details below)

or

• If the memorandum of association for the organization of the company was in a standard form according to the model agreement presented in system 24, then through system 24 (System teleinformatyczny umożliwiający elektroniczną rejestrację podmiotów gospodarczych, S24). The link also provides instruction for creating an account in the S24 system. Authorization with a Qualified Electronic Signature, Trusted Signature, or Personal Signature is also required to create an account.

An electronic qualified signature is an electronic medium that confirms the identity of the person who signs the document. A qualified signature allows you to sign most documents to Polish government agencies or contracts with contractors. An shortened version of the full electronic qualified signature is a personal electronic signature. You can get an electronic qualified signature from certified providers: PEM-HEART, Sigilium Sign, Szafir Sign, Certum SmartSign and EuroCert. The cost of an electronic qualified signature depends on the provider and the term of validity of the signature, on average – PLN 200 per year.

A trusted signature is a form of a registered trusted profile (Profil Zaufanej, ePUAP). To obtain a trusted profile, you need an individual PESEL tax number, which is usually issued at the place of registration or residence of a citizen. Trusted Profile is a free tool for contacts with government authorities in Poland.

The application for registration of a company in PRS and in S24 must be accompanied by the necessary documents in the form of electronic attachments: a decision on the creation and registration, confirmation of a contribution in the form of authorized capital. The minimum share capital in Poland in 2022 is PLN 5,000 for a limited liability company (Spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością), PLN 50,000 for a limited liability partnership (Spółka komandytowo – akcyjna) and PLN 100,000 for a joint-stock company (Spółka akcyjna).

An application for entering a limited liability company into the National Court Register is considered by the registry court within 7 days from the date of its receipt. An application for registration of a limited liability company, the contract of which is concluded according to the form presented in the S24 system, is considered by the registry court within 1 day from the date of its receipt.

An individual entrepreneur must be registered in the Central Register and Information on Economic Activities (Centralna Ewidencja i Informacja o Działalności Gospodarczej, CEIDG). Entrepreneurship can be registered completely online through the website, using the electronic application wizard with the preparation of an application for entry in the register of entrepreneurs and notifications to social insurance institutions, tax office and statistics. For registration and other requests, you can create a separate entrepreneur account on the Biz.gov.pl website. The CEIDG website also provides complete information on registration, procedures and rules. To register online, it is enough to have a personal trusted profile (Profil Zaufany).

If the general conditions for doing business and entrepreneurship have already been determined, then you must select the name of the company and check its uniqueness in the register. In the case of entrepreneurship, the name must contain at least the name and surname of the entrepreneur.

When registering a company and an individual entrepreneur, you need to select the types of activities, that best describe the business, according to the codes of the Polish Classification of Activities (Polskiej Klasyfikacji Działalności, PKD). When registering a company in the National Court Register, you can enter a maximum of 10 PKD codes, including one primary activity code (that is, the one with the largest share of revenue from the sale of goods or the provision of services). When registering a sole proprietorship with the CEIDG, one primary activity code and any number of other activity codes are provided.

Some activities are regulated, that is, they require a license или permit (real estate evaluation, law, architecture, tax consulting). You can check which activities require a license or permit at the website.

When registering a company, you must provide the address where its board is located. In the case of companies registered in the National Court Register, the address of the place of business must also be indicated if it differs from the address of the registered office. Such places will be, for example, warehouses. For an entrepreneur, it is necessary to provide the address of the activity and receive correspondence related to the conduct of this activity. It is allowed to register an address at the place of residence with the execution of a rent agreement for a part of the building and with the possibility of accounting these amounts as the costs of the company or entrepreneur.

Cases when there is no need to register entrepreneurship are given on the website. They concern small incomes (half of the minimum wage), irregular incomes, farmers.

It is also important to choose the form of taxation of entrepreneurship for further activities.

There are services for registering companies, including remotely for foreigners, you can also do it yourself.