How to start your own business?

The simplest organizational form of conducting business activity by natural persons is sole proprietorship.

Business registration is made by submitting an application for entry in the Central Register and Information on Economic Activity (CEIDG) electronically or in paper form at the City Hall in Łomża.

This form of business registration cannot be used by legal persons (including sole proprietorships of commercial law established by a natural person),

which, under the law, are subject to the provisions on legal persons and register through an entry in the National Court Register.

The Law on Entrepreneurs, which is part of the Business Constitution, regulates in art. 5 issues related to unregistered activities.

This form of business activity can be used by anyone whose monthly income does not exceed 50% of the minimum wage and who has not carried out economic activity during the last 60 months.

The minimum remuneration for work in 2018 is PLN 2,100 gross, therefore the income limit for unregistered activities is PLN 1050.

Conducting unregistered activities does not release you from the obligation to pay income tax on account of earned income, as the revenues from this are not exempt from tax.

The taxpayer shows the achieved revenues and the costs of obtaining revenues due to conducting unregistered activities in the annual tax return PIT-36 in the part "Other sources".

These revenues are taxed according to the tax scale (18%, 32%). An application for entry into the CEIDG is also a notification to ZUS / KRUS, GUS and the head of the tax office.

Therefore, when setting up a business, you should consider:

social security issues

codes of PKD activity of the conducted business activity
form of taxation.

The insurance obligation in relation to a person conducting non-agricultural activity arises from the day of commencing the activity and ceases on the day of cessation of its activity. Regardless of whether the activity is periodic or not, the obligation to pay social security contributions exists throughout the year and is not dependent on income. Deregistration or suspension of activities results in the termination of the insurance obligation.

An entrepreneur starting a business is obliged to indicate the subject of his activity in accordance with the Polish Classification of Activities (PKD). Providing codes is necessary at the stage of establishing a company. Changing the scope of business is possible provided that the PKD codes in CEIDG are updated. A person starting a business chooses the form in which they tax.

The following forms are available for choosing the taxpayer:

taxation on general principles, using a progressive tax scale (18% and 32% rates)
flat tax - 19% rate
flat-rate taxation - a lump-sum tax on registered income or a tax card

More on tax forms

What should you know before starting a business?

Below in a few steps we present how to set up a company.

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To register a business (change the data in the entry, suspend / resume / cease the activity) as a natural person, you can choose one of the following procedures:

log in to CEIDG, complete the online application and submit it electronically (people with an electronic signature with a qualified certificate or trusted profile),
log in to CEIDG, complete the online application, print it and take it to the municipal office,
without logging in to CEIDG, complete the online application, print it and take it to the municipality,
download, complete and submit a paper application at the commune office,
send the application by registered mail to the selected commune – the signature must be notarized.

From January 2017, with the help of a consultant, you can register your own company by phone. The business owner can also use telephone notification of upcoming important dates and significant changes in regulations.

During the telephone conversation, the consultant explains the rules of business registration, accepts the data necessary to complete the application and enters them into the Central Business Register and Information System (CEIDG).

After the conversation, the entrepreneur receives a text message with the application number, with which he can go to any municipal office, where the official will print the application and submit it for signature. The entire registration can also be done fully electronically, using a trusted profile or electronic signature.

Useful links:

Diagram of completing the CEIDG-1 application

Instructions for completing the CEIDG application – 1

On-line application without logging in.

Other forms and instructions.

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When choosing 2, 3, 4 procedures, you should report to the City Hall in Łomża, Stary Rynek 14, 18-400 Łomża, room 4, ground floor. You can obtain information in advance by phone on 86 2156749.

The applicant should carry with him / her a document confirming his / her identity (valid ID or passport).

The applicant completes the on-site application or, in the case of an anonymous application, is printed by an employee based on a previously generated code.

The printed application is signed by the applicant.

The applicant receives confirmation of submission of the application.

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The entrepreneur may start a business on the day of submitting the application for entry.

The signed application is entered into CEIDG within 1 day of submission.

An application for entry into the CEIDG is also a notification to ZUS / KRUS, GUS and the head of the tax office.

NIP and REGON numbers are automatically issued within 7 days and are posted on the CEIDG website.

The certificate of entry in CEIDG is a printout from the CEIDG website.

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Within 7 days of starting a business, the entrepreneur must make an inspectorate in ZUS unit in Łomża at ul. Szosa Zambrowska 29 applications for relevant insurance. If conducting business is the entrepreneur’s only insurance title, he submits the ZUS form ZUA. If you are required to settle contributions for other people, you must submit them to the appropriate insurance within 7 days of the date of this obligation. On the basis of CEIDG-1, ZUS automatically issues the correct application for the contribution payer ZFA / ZIPA / ZBA / ZAA / ZWPA.

An entrepreneur who wants to start a business for the first time, or 5 years has passed since the end of his previous activity, from April 30, 2018 can take advantage of the start discount and not pay social security contributions for 6 months. However, you must remember that the discount does not apply to health insurance. If the entrepreneur takes advantage of the relief, he does not have to pay social security contributions, but

After a full six calendar months, the entrepreneur can take advantage of another discount – the so-called small ZUS, which allows you to pay lower contributions for the next 24 months.

STEP 5

If the entrepreneur becomes a VAT payer, then on the day preceding the day of commencing the sale of goods or services subject to VAT at the latest at the Tax Office competent for the address of the registered office or place of residence, he should submit an application form VAT-R.

The head of the tax office registers the entrepreneur as an “active VAT taxpayer”. In connection with the amendment to the Tax Code, from January 1, 2016, the application form should be submitted to the Tax Office competent for the address of the registered office or place of residence. The change in the properties of the tax authority is ex officio. Due to this change, taxpayers are not required to submit an update of the VAT-R declaration.

An entrepreneur who registers activity may attach a VAT-R form to the application for entry into the CEIDG. The VAT-R form can be attached by entrepreneurs who independently submit an application at CEIDG and have an electronic signature verified by means of a qualified certificate. Confirmation of the registration fee (PLN 170) should be attached within 3 days from the date of submission of the application, in the form of a file with the pdf extension, which in consequence means that the entrepreneur is released from the obligation to provide a paper version of the proof of payment at a later date

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The entrepreneur may start a business on the day of submitting the application for entry or on a future date.
Entry in the Central Register and Information on Economic Activity takes place no later than on the next business day from the date of receipt of the application.
The entrepreneur is obliged to submit an application for changing the entry within 7 days from the date of the change of data and an application for deleting the entry within 7 days from the date of permanent cessation of business activity.
Suspension or resumption must be notified at the latest on the date of suspension or resumption of business activity.

More information on the information and service website for entrepreneurs run by the Ministry of Development is available on the website www.biznes.gov.pl.

From March 2018, the laws constituting the Business Constitution will come into force. More information on our site.