What it costs to runa Polish company.
A Polish company files annual financial statements with the court register, a corporate tax return, and monthly social insurance and payroll declarations. Teamed keeps the calendars and files on them.
Three calendars
Running a company is three separate clocks
People expect one annual filing. A Polish company has obligations to the court register, the tax office and the social insurance institution, and the monthly ones are what catch people out.
Social insurance is the heaviest recurring obligation, filed and paid monthly for every person employed. Payroll tax runs alongside it. The annual financial statements and the corporate tax return sit on top, and the statements have to be approved before they are filed, which is a governance step rather than an accounting one.
None of it pauses because a quarter was quiet. A company that did not trade still files, and the management board carries responsibility for it.
| Filing | Who to | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Annual financial statements | Court register | Annually, after approval |
| Corporate tax return | Tax office | Annually |
| Social insurance declarations | Social insurance institution | Monthly |
| Payroll and VAT | Tax office | Monthly |
The rate you actually pay
Most new Polish companies do not pay 19%
The standard corporate rate is 19%, and that is the figure every summary prints. For a new subsidiary it is usually the wrong one.
A 9% rate applies to income other than capital gains where you are a small taxpayer, meaning your previous year's revenue including VAT was at or below the equivalent of two million euro, and it also applies to companies in their first year of activity. A new Polish subsidiary of a foreign group will normally meet that test.
Two caveats worth knowing before you model it. Capital gains are always taxed at 19% regardless, and the 9% rate is not available to a company formed through certain transformations or contributions, which is precisely how some groups set up subsidiaries. Check which you are before assuming the lower rate.
What you actually pay
The filings are cheap. The bookkeeping is not.
Where Teamed runs the company, state charges stay itemised on the invoice as pass-throughs rather than folded into one line. You should be able to see every cost, every line item and every pass-through.
Poland's recurring cost sits in the monthly rhythm rather than in any single annual fee. Social insurance and payroll declarations every month, full accounting records kept to a prescribed standard, and financial statements prepared and approved annually. That is a bookkeeping engagement rather than an occasional filing.
Market estimate
6,000 to 18,000 zł a yearWhat the market charges for monthly bookkeeping, payroll and the annual statements on a small company. Not a Teamed price.
Worth saying plainly
This is the cost people forget when they compare
Registering in Poland is fast and cheap, which is exactly why the running cost gets underestimated. The monthly social insurance and payroll filings are the part that repeats, and they are what decide whether owning the entity was worth it.
If the annual running cost looks heavy against the size of your team here, that is useful information rather than a problem. An employer of record carries all of it inside one monthly fee.
Teamed's employer of record in Poland is a flat €560 per employee per month, with zero FX mark-up in any currency pairing and one invoice at the end of it. Contractors, employer of record and your own entity all run on one platform, so moving between them later does not mean changing provider or re-onboarding anybody. Real HR and legal experts handle the work, not a ticket queue.
Talk to a member of the team and we will tell you plainly which one suits where you are. If you would rather look at the numbers yourself first, the crossover calculator models it for Poland.
Who carries it
Your own entity, when it's time. We set it up, migrate you in, and hand it back intact.
Global Entity and Employment Operations, which we call GEMO, is how Teamed forms your company, registers it for corporation tax and payroll, runs it month to month and keeps its filings current, across 100+ countries. You stay the employer. We do the work behind it.
In Poland that matters a little more than elsewhere, because Teamed employs through its own local entity rather than a partner. The people who would run your company are the people already running ours.
They set up our EU entity and moved hires across without missing a payroll.
Questions
Questions about running a Polish company
Will we pay 19% or 9%?
9% on non-capital income if you are a small taxpayer, meaning prior-year revenue at or below the equivalent of two million euro, or if you are in your first year. Capital gains are always 19%, and the lower rate is not available after certain transformations.
How often do we file social insurance?
Monthly, for every person employed. It is the heaviest recurring obligation and it runs alongside the monthly payroll filing.
When are the financial statements due?
Annually, and they have to be approved before they are filed with the court register. That approval is a governance step, so plan it rather than discovering it.
What if the company did not trade?
It still files. A dormant company has fewer numbers to report but the same obligations, and the management board remains responsible.
Is bookkeeping optional for a small company?
No. A sp. z o.o. keeps full accounting records to a prescribed standard, which is why the recurring cost is a bookkeeping engagement rather than an occasional fee.
Sources
- Ministerstwo Finansow, CIT rates and limits
- Krajowy Rejestr Sadowy, filing annual financial statements
- Zaklad Ubezpieczen Spolecznych, employer contribution declarations
The rest of the Poland guides
Looking for a job in Entity Running Costs And Filings yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
