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Remote employment of foreigners in Poland

Employment of a foreigner in the territory of the Republic of Poland is regulated by the law on the promotion of employment and labour market institutions. When appointing a subject to the category of foreigners, the region or country in which the future employee has citizenship does not matter.

For the employment of foreigners, does not matter also the form in which employment occurs. The most common forms of employment are the employment relationships regulated by the provisions of the labour Code, as well as order contract and employment contract for specified task which are governed by the provisions of the civil Code.

These agreements are civil contracts. If its subject is the performance of certain works outside the territory of the country with the transfer of the results of the work by email, without the need to stay in Poland, the employer must not obtain a work permit.

Since civil law contracts presuppose equality of parties, it is necessary to indicate in the contract which legal system should consider the contract and what kind of court there will be in case of a possible dispute (Polish or a third country).

Otherwise, both the legal system and the court will be determined in accordance with the general principles provided for in international law.

Otherwise, a legal system and the court will be determined in accordance with the General principles contained in international law.

To work remotely the contract for a specified task is a more suitable form. Unlike the order contract the contract for a specified task is an agreement on the result, not of careful work. The contractor may not request payment for a carefully performed, but not completed before the end of the work, except if the receiving order was ready to perform, but couldn't for reasons relating to the customer.

Employing Polish freelancers, entrepreneur from Poland pays for them income tax (keeps it from wages), which can reach even 20% of the transaction amount. The entrepreneur himself must pay for the employee this kind of tax. This also applies to business partners from all countries (and the EU).

The tax at source of income arises at the moment when the paid salary relates to:

  • copyright or related (for example, purchase of a license for software, translation, development of a logo),
  • use or the right to use industrial, commercial or scientific equipment (for example, leasing),
  • information related to the gained experience in the field of industrial, commercial or scientific experience (know-how),
  • consulting, accounting, legal services, market research, advertising, management and control services, data processing, recruitment and staff recruitment services, guarantees and sureties, and similar benefits.

To avoid paying a higher tax, the taxpayer must have a certificate of the tax residence of the counterparty, which confirms that the person is a tax resident of a certain country. The income of a legal entity that has such a certificate is a subject to income tax in the country that issued the certificate. The original certificate of the tax residence of a foreign counterparty allows reducing the receivables arising from the invoice to 20%. The certificate of the tax residence gives the right to reduce the tax at source of income to the amount resulting from the international agreement, for example, up to 5%. The residence certificate can also lead to the fact that income in Poland will be completely exempt from taxation.

Employment Polish freelancer is due to the need to pay for insurance premiums. For example, when based on the order contract and the contractor does not have the status of a student. In accordance with the General principle of international treaties and EU law duty of insurance, as ZUS, occurs in the state where the employee performs work regardless of his place of residence, citizenship or location of the employer. So, if a foreign specialist does not work in Poland, there is no need to pay for his insurance premiums. Theoretically, it is necessary to check the rules of payment of social insurance in the country of the freelancer. In practice, however, it can be quite difficult.