Doing business in Poland: minimising risk, maximising reward
Poland has seen significant reforms in its tax and corporate compliance regime over the past year. While these changes will ultimately improve things for both companies and individuals – especially in the area of digitalisation – some are taking time to work through the system, and have increased the complexity of doing business in Poland. This makes it even more important than ever for overseas companies to seek expert guidance when incorporating or doing business in Poland.
Poland is one of Europe’s most attractive locations for overseas companies to set up business. The country offers high levels of economic stability, a well-educated and diverse workforce and a favourable location at the heart of Europe.
Wholesale regulatory changes introduced over the past 12 months are designed to simplify and modernise the Polish tax and corporate compliance regimes. However, the sheer extent and speed of these reforms have meant many businesses have had difficulty ensuring compliance with the new rules.
Increasing complexity
As the changes work through the system, things are improving on an almost daily basis, but the Polish tax and regulatory environment remains highly complex. This is the main reason behind Poland rising to tenth place in TMF Group’s 2022 Global Business Complexity Index, making it one of the world’s most complex jurisdiction to do business in.
Here are just a few examples of the complexity that overseas companies looking to do business in Poland should be aware of:
- Poland’s corporate income tax rules vary according to the type of activity the company is involved in.
- Environmental obligations in Poland follow EU regulations, but are generally stricter and require specific registration and mandatory reporting to Polish authorities.
- Likewise, mandatory disclosure rules are stricter in Poland than across the EU, and cover internal transactions over a certain value as well as those that cross-borders.
- Most official company applications and returns can now be submitted electronically, but they must be signed using a qualified certificate that meets the EU’s Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services (eIDAS) regulations.
- Poland’s labour laws are complex and constantly changing, especially for people working for overseas companies in Poland.
- Electronic invoicing, along with real-time tax submission, will become compulsory in Poland from 1 January 2024. The new reporting requirements are creating significant challenges for companies as they prepare their systems and processes to be compliant.
Overcoming the challenges
The challenge for overseas companies operating in Poland is that no two situations are exactly the same, and there are many potential areas for non-compliance for those who are not familiar with local rules and regulations.
TMF Group’s in-country experts in Poland have enormous experience in helping overseas companies navigate this complexity – minimising risk while maximising reward – across all aspects of entity registration and management, accounting and tax, HR and payroll.
Find out how TMF Group can help companies with the challenges of doing business in complex jurisdictions here.
