Numerous changes to the law came into effect on the 1 January 2018 or will be implemented soon. Among other things, Polish lawmakers allowed all foreigners to automatically obtain their PESEL numbers while registering their addresses of residence (read more about registering the address of residence). Due to that it is no longer needed to apply for a NIP number. Some information contained in this article may be no longer up-to-date. Work is ongoing to update and rebuild the blog by the end of January.
I visited Urząd Skarbowy (tax office) in Krakow last week with a friend of mine. Like many non-EU foreigners in Poland, he wasn’t allowed a PESEL which Poland uses for identification, insurances and taxes. This is why some expats decide to apply for a NIP number (numer identyfikacji podatkowej – tax identification number).
I couldn’t find any clear instructions concerning NIP number for foreigners so I decided to describe the process here. I hope that it will make you able to apply for a NIP number without any need to pay for help.
Learn more: What To Do Upon Arrival In Poland. Make sure that you have taken care of everything.
This article describes the easiest possible scenario. In more complicated circumstances, for example with tax residency, or with double taxation, you need to contact your local tax office or Krajowa Informacja Podatkowa (National Tax Information): 22 330 03 30. You’ll need a Polish speaker to help.
NIP number. Why and when do you need it?
NIP is often used as an identification number for people who work in Poland and are not included in the PESEL register i.e. most non-EU foreigners.
Learn more: Legal Basis For a PESEL For ePUAP Users
You need to be registered with the system to enable your employer to pay your PIT (personal income tax) for you. When is that? According to one external source the first PIT payment is due to the 20th day of the month following your first monthly paycheck. This means you have about a month (two months max.) to obtain a NIP number after you start working.
Documents required to obtain a NIP number:
- An employment agreement – a copy and an original to check against;
- A form of personal identification: your ID card, passport, or a stay card (karta pobytu) – with a photocopy;
- Some tax offices may also require a tax residency declaration – if this is the case, you obtain the form of the declaration in the tax office when you submit the documents.
Find your tax office
Your tax office is chosen on the basis of your place of residence. You can find it in a search engine here.
NIP number: fill out NIP-7 form
You can find the NIP-7 form here. It’s also good idea to use printed forms that are available in every tax office.
The Ministry of Finance has also published an interactive version of the form which makes life much easier. Unfortunately you cannot use it for this type of registration. But you can use it later, when you need to update some NIP data. For these kinds of situations you can find the form here. If the interactive pdf file won’t work, try to open it in another web browser.
Let’s fill out the form
I’ll use the interactive form to show you examples, but you’ll need to print your own form out, or take a copy from the tax office, and fill it out by hand.
Basic information
- A says, that the applicant must fill in the white boxes.The tax office’s representative fills in the grey fields. You can fill out the form on a typewriter, computer, or by hand: with capital letters, black or blue colour.
- B is for a taxpayer identification number. Just leave it empty for now.
- The headline in C basically says: Application for the registering / update for a private individual being either a taxpayer (you) or a tax registered supplier (a company for example).
- D is an information note. Among other things it says that the form is for the use of non-entrepreneurs who conduct a business activity on their own, or who are VAT-registered taxpayers, or who are suppliers of social and health insurance contributions, or who – and this is us – are not recognized in the PESEL register. So we’re included in the last category of subsection a). This form is for us.
- E indicates the legal basis of the form.
Section A: Place and purpose of submission
In point A.4. we choose our status. You need to pick option 5: a taxpayer not included in the PESEL register (podatnik nieobjęty rejestrem PESEL).
The remaining options can be translated more or less as:
- A person who runs a business enterprise
- VAT suppliers
- Tax registered suppliers (your tax registered supplier is your employer)
- Health and social insurance registered supplier (your employer again)
As you see, only option 5 is for us.
Now let’s come back to the highlighted text on the top of the picture. Among other things, it says that if you don’t choose options 1 and 2, you don’t need to fill out sections C and D.2 of the form. Options 1 and 2 are for entrepreneurs and VAT registered suppliers. As we are neither entrepreneurs, nor VAT registered suppliers, we fill out the whole form except for the sections regarding a business’ data (C and D.2.)
You’ll see this later. I’ll remind you to skip these sections, once we get there.
Point A.5.: The application’s purpose:
- Registration
- Update details
We choose box number 1: Registration (zgłoszenie identyfikacyjne).
In point A.6. you put your tax office. For example purposes, let’s say that my tax office is Kraków-Krowodrza. So I write: NACZELNIK URZĘDU SKARBOWEGO KRAKÓW-KROWODRZA (head of Kraków-Krowodrza tax office).
Section B: Personal data
7. PESEL number. Ignore it.
8. Nazwisko – surname
10. Pierwsze imię – first name
12. Drugie imię – second name
14. Imię ojca – father’s name
16. Imię matki – mother’s name
18. Data urodzenia (dzień – miesiąc – rok) – date of birth: dayday-monthmonth-yearyear
20. Miejsce (miejscowość) urodzenia – city where you were born
22. Płeć – gender
1. Kobieta – female
2. Mężczyzna – male
23. Nazwisko rodowe (według aktu urodzenia) – family name
*You need to feel it out, even if you’re a man. I didn’t and I was asked to write it down later on by a clerk.
25. Rodzaj dokumentu stwierdzającego tożsamość – Your ID type:
ID card – DOWÓD OSOBISTY
Stay card – KARTA POBYTU CUDZOZIEMCA
Polish passport – PASZPORT POLSKI
Temporary ID card – TYMCZASOWY DOWÓD OSOBISTY
Temporary document for identification – TYMCZASOWE ZAŚWIADCZENIE TOŻSAMOŚCI
Foreign passport – PASZPORT ZAGRANICZNY
27. Seria i numer dokumentu stwierdzającego tożsamość – the number of the chosen identification document
29. Obywatelstwo (należy podać wszystkie obywatelstwa posiadane w dniu składania zgłoszenia) – All citizenships that you possess, for example:
British –BRYTYJSKIE
American – AMERYKAŃSKIE
Indian – INDYJSKIE
Italian – WŁOSKIE
French – FRANCUSKIE
and so on.
Next to each data field there is a box with the text: “Zmiana w poz. …” (highlighted). It means “Update in a box number… “. This isn’t used for registration purposes, so just ignore it.
If you were registered as a taxpayer in other countries, you’re supposed to put all your tax identification numbers in this section. If this applies to you, I’d recommend you to contact your tax office to verify your particular situation before you start the whole process.
For the sake of this example, we’ll say you don’t have a previous tax number, so we’ll go to the section B.3.
B.3 Place of residence
In our scenario your tax residence status is clear: you live and work in Poland; maybe you’re staying in Poland longer than 183 days in the current tax period, or maybe you can prove that your life is associated with Poland more than any other country at the moment. In our scenario let’s assume you’re renting a flat here. In this case put your Polish address here.
33. Kraj – country
34. Województwo – voivodeship
35. Powiat – poviat (county)
Write ‘M.CITY-NAME’ if you live in a city: powiat krakowski is for towns and villages around Kraków and powiat M. Kraków is for the city itself.
36. Gmina – municipality
37. Ulica – street
38. Nr domu – number (of the building)
39. Nr lokalu – number (of the flat)
40. Miejscowość – city
41. Kod pocztowy – postcode
42. Poczta – post district
B.4. Contact details
43. Telefon – phone number
44. Fax
45. E-mail
B.4.1. Electronic address
This part of the form is for people who use ePUAP electronic address. You can read more about it here. You probably won’t have it, so we’ll just choose the “Resignation from electronic address” box, number 47 (rezygnacja z adresu elektronicznego).
Correspondence address
If you put a Polish address in section B.3., ignore section B.4.2. If you want to receive documents to a different address, this is where you write it. I want to get documents to my rented, Polish, address so I leave it blank.
Section C: Data concerning registered business activity
Section C is only about details regarding any business activity. We can skip this section, as I said earlier in Section A.
D.1. – Personal bank account for repayments and recoveries
Subdivision D.1. is not obligatory, but it’s useful to fill it in. You’re supposed to give your bank details for the account in which you want to receive tax repayments and recoveries of overpayments. You can only put a bank account if you’re the sole-owner or joint-owner.
If you don’t wish to use a bank account, you should choose the resignation box – number 105. If you wish to receive money into this account, fill in the boxes:
101 – Country of residence of your bank or its branch. You fill it in only if it’s a foreign account.
102 – Full name of the bank or its branch
103 – Owner holder
104 – Full account number. If it’s a foreign account, you must include SWIFT code.
D.2. Business bank accounts
Again, we can skip this section.
Section E is for attachments, but we won’t include any, so we can go straight to the final section: F.
Section F: Signature of the applicant/ data and signature of a person who is representing the applicant
Points 118 – 121 are only for a person who is representing the applicant and should write his or her personal data. We can ignore it, because we’ve done it all on our own. Our data was given before, so we leave those boxes empty. But we fill out these boxes:
122 – submission date
123 – Signature (and a stamp) of the applicant / of a person who is representing the applicant
*Cross out words: “osoby reprezentującej składającego” (of a person who is representing the applicant) on the form, because it won’t apply to you.
Legal instruction
The form finishes with a legal expression. It says more or less something like: “Fines may be imposed for tax offences against evidential duties, described in the article 81 of the Tax Penal Code (kodeks karny skarbowy)”.
NIP number: Go to the tax office
Now you’re ready to submit your application. I highly recommend you to go to the tax office with a Polish speaker.
You will find more useful articles here:
Just After Moving To Poland Category
Sources:
Ustawa o zasadach ewidencji i identyfikacji podatników
Thanks a lot
Good luck in the tax office!
I went this morning directly when they open, it took me 5 minutes.
They weren’t speaking so good english but I was surprised how quick it was.
In france, for administrative things it would take so much longer.
They told me to come back monday to get my NIP so everything is OK.
Thanks a lot again !
Thank you so much for your help, I went today to submit it and it was quite fast in the office of Warsaw-Bemowo!
Really appreciate your help! keep it up =)
Amin, I’m glad to hear that! thank you for your support 🙂
How long does it take to get it? do you get on mail?
You can receive it via post or go for it to the office. The procedure can take up to a month in regular cases, but in practice they often finish it within two weeks.
Hi, i would like to know what is the difference between PESEL and NIP – regarding what it helps you with.
To be more clear what I mean – if I get NIP for example i will have problems in some situations- when it comes to salary or pension or other rights?
Hello Ale. NIP will be used only for taxes. PESEL will be also used for example at the doctor (in public facilities), in some banks (there are only a few that still require it though), in some online shops and for example to buy a domain for your website in Poland.
If you will go for a NIP, each month you will need to request reports from your employer confirming that he’s paid your health insurance, because the NIP number is not connected to the health care system so they won’t be able to check your insurance at the doctor as they do with Polish citizens (as PESEL number is connected to the database). This should be the only frequent problem. From time to time you will be required to give your PESEL in the number of other cases that are difficult to predict. You will always need to explain to those companies and people who request is that you couldn’t obtain your PESEL number automatically.
If you go for a NIP, you can switch to a PESEL later on.
Please let me know if that’s all clear.
You helped me millions, Maciek!
Thank you very much !
HEJ, I AM LOOKING FOR SOME INFORMATIONS UNFORTUNATELY I DONT GET IT. I AM FROM BANGLADESH. MY WIFE IS POLISH CITYZEN. I HAVE GOT A TEMPORARY RESIDENCE PERMIT IN 2014 FROM POLAND AS POLISH FAMILY MEMBER AND IT IS ALREADY EXPIRED MORE THAN ONE YEAR AGO ALSO I HAVE GOT A PESEL NUMBER IN POLAND. FEW MONTHS AGO I CAME TO POLAND AND GOT A NEW RESIDENCE PERMIT BUT IT IS NOT AS A POLISH FAMILY MEMBER . IT BASED ON WORK PERMIT. I AM PLANING TO OPEN A BUSINESS IN POLAND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BUT I DO NOT WANT TO WAIT TO GET ANOTHER RESIDENCE PERMIT AS POLISH FAMILY MEMBER .
AM I ABLE TO OPEN A BUSSINESS BY THIS WORK PERMIT KARTA POBITY? I WILL WAIT FOR YOUR USEFUL REPLAY .
REGARDS,
JONNY
Thank you for your comment Jonny. I’ve just sent you a message.
Dear Admin, where and how can we pay tax obligations for our firm that is now closed because we moved? We worked in a restaurant in Warsaw, closed the firm and still need to pay tax. We have the numbers to pay but would like to contact somebody via email to tell us how can we do it via computer from our homeland (Croatia)? Is it possible? We want to pay our duties but do not know how because we do not speak Polish. Thank you in advance, please help..
Hello Bojana, thank you for your comment. I’ve sent you some proposition over an e-mail message.
Hi,
Thank you for this article it is really interesting. I have a question, I have obtained a PESEL number when I moved in Poland after starting my job here and I would like to know if I have to ask for a NIP number to pay my taxes or if it can be done without it (or is it better to have both). Also I moved in Poland in January is it a problem that I don’t have a NIP number yet ? (I thought PESEL was the tax identifier at first)
Hello Odile, thank you for your comment. In this case NIP is for the people who don’t have PESEL numbers. Your PESEL number is completely enough, even better. Please don’t apply for NIP.
Hey Maciek,
Thanks for this article. It’s been helpful.
I have one question. I now know I will need a NIP number for taxes, since I’m not from the EU and the PESEL is not yet an option.
Am I too late in getting this?
I’ve been working here for 5 months now (since first arriving to Poland). You said a NIT number is necessary for the employer to pay my taxes for me. But each month income taxes, ZUS, and etc. are deducted from my gross. Can you clarify what sort of situation I’m in?
Am I in trouble? If so, please let me know what I ought to do, or where I should look for more information.
I appreciate your time. Thanks,
Carlos
Hello Carlos. Don’t worry you shouldn’t have any problems because of that. Also, I have good news – starting from the next week non-EU citizens will be finally allowed to obtain PESEL numbers automatically. Please wait a few days and after 1.01.2018 go to complete zameldowanie (https://www.justaskpoland.com/poland-address-registration/) in order to obtain your PESEL number with no extra effort and for no extra cost.
HoweverHi,
So i went to the tax office in szczecin, first tax office to be precise. However, the person there told me that since I havent completed 183 days in poland yet I need to submit my form in the third tax office and after completion of six months in Poland I will need to submit another form in the First Tax office. However, some of friends who come just 2 months before me to Poland have submited their forms in the FIrst Tax office and they have been accepted. I am confused now.
Hello Jaymesh, it looks like some local procedure. Thank you for letting me know about this. Please do not bother with the NIP any more, because starting from the next week you will obtain your PESEL number automatically after completing zameldowanie due to changes in the la. Here the procedure which you should follow now: https://www.justaskpoland.com/poland-address-registration/
I made all process by my own without any help. Thank you Maciek. You save my day !
Thank you
I appreciate the kind act of guiding us step by step. This is the most helpful site I’ve come across in Poland.
Hi Maciek and everyone else, and thanks cause it’s super nice to get that kind of back up once you get to admin stuff !
Like everyone else I do have a question.
I work in Poland and have a NIP, didnt know yet that I could get a PESEL so easily.
My question is: are the taxes that I paid in Poland eligible for social benefits in France (home country)?
I mean retirement and any social contributions.
I did ask my company but so far they werent able to answer.
I know its a very specific question but I am guessing that you might have some of the sort before.
I am wondering it it would help to go and ask the people working at the tax office.
Thanks anyway,
Looking forward to be hearing from you.
Nico
hi Maciek,
Very interesting article, I have a question – I have a polish sp.zo.o which is not active but we still file the returns every year. though I do not live in Poland anymore. Usually, I would get the papers from the accountant and sign and send them back to her. Now she informed me that I need epuap, For epuap I need Pesel nr. . So where is the catch ? I missing something. As, I do not live in Poland anymore, I cannot register.
Hello Maciek,
I got an job offer from a company called “*****” and their website is ***** How do I verify if this company is genuine? Please help me, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you,
Antonio
Hi Antonio,
Their website looks suspicious to me. Also, I could not find anything about them (usually you can find here information about companies in Poland: http://www.krs-online.com.pl ). If I were you, I would be very cautious. Of course, I may be wrong. I have edited your post so their website is not shown.
Cheers,
Andrzej
Hi,
Thanks for taking the time to maintain this resource. It is much appreciated. I was wondering what the procedure if if I received my ZR, PESEL and NIP last year but got married and changed my surname ? I am not a permanent resident so the process seems a little confusing.
Do I need to fill out all the forms again ? Where should I begin ?
Hello Maciek,
Thank you very much for this article. I have submitted my NIP 7 however the Urzad employee who manage my case informed me that I already had one NIP number assigned me and just wrote it down on a piece of paper. The problem is that I have not received any statement up to now informing me that a NIP has been assigned to me.
My question is, how can I get a statement testifying that a NIP number has been assigned to me?
Thank you very much for your help