Tax and VAT numbers for foreign company in Poland

 There are many foreign companies connected with Poland by conducting their activities in Poland. A foreign company may operate directly, through a branch or representative office in Poland. If a company carries on business that is subject to taxation in Poland, or is a social security contributor in Poland, it must have a Polish tax identification number (NIP).

 In order to obtain the NIP number, the company should submit the NIP-2 form to the Tax Office and attach the company Agreement and a copy from the register of entrepreneurs together with a translation into polish made by a sworn translator who is entered into the register of sworn translators in Poland. In addition, a justification for applying for the NIP number must be provided. If a foreign company has a branch or representative office in Poland, the NIP number may be assigned to both the parent company and its organizationally separated part. Neither the branch nor the representative office is a separate taxpayer for corporate income tax or VAT, the parent company should have a different NIP number from the branch or representative office. The branch or representative office shall only act as a payer of PIT advances and of social and health insurance contributions and therefore may have its NIP number if it has employees. It should be stressed that the obligation to apply for NIP can be subject to both the entity as a whole and part of the entity (for example, branch or representative office).

A foreign company may also be registered with a VAT number if there are grounds for doing so. VAT registration will be justified in the case of a permanent place of business in Poland, making deliveries of goods in Poland, or providing services for which a seller, not the buyer, is obliged to settle the VAT due on the territory of Poland, or when it acquires goods and sells them on the territory of Poland or exports goods from Poland.

For VAT registration, a VAT-R declaration must be submitted to the Tax Office. If NIP-2 form has not been submitted before or company does not has a Polish NIP, the NIP-2 form must be submitted together with the VAT-R form. Attachments to VAT-R:

• company deed of association together with the original translation into Polish by a sworn translator;
• excerpts from the commercial register together with the original translation into Polish by a sworn translator;
• a copy of the certificate issued by the tax authorities of the country of business confirming registration for VAT purposes in the country of registration, together with the original translation into Polish by a sworn translator;
• an agreement with a bank in Poland to open an account;
• agreement or contact with an accounting provider;
• description of business activity within Poland.

Registration of the NIP and VAT number can be carried out both by a company from the European Union and from other countries of the world on the same principles. It is important to provide a good justification, which clearly indicates the tax liability of the company. The deadline for issuing the NIP number is about 7 working days, VAT number - in practice it can be up to about a month, depending on whether the tax inspector needs explanations about the company's activities and the justification for VAT registration.