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:

  1. An employment agreement – a copy and an original to check against;
  2. A form of personal identification: your ID card, passport, or a stay card (karta pobytu) – with a photocopy;
  3. 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.

 

NIP number: Basic information

NIP number: Basic information

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.

 

NIP number: Place and purpose of submission

NIP number: Place and purpose of submission

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:

  1. A person who runs a business enterprise
  2. VAT suppliers
  3. Tax registered suppliers (your tax registered supplier is your employer)
  4. 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:

  1. Registration
  2. 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).

 

NIP number: personal data

NIP number: personal data

Section B: Personal data

7. PESEL number. Ignore it.

8. Nazwiskosurname

10. Pierwsze imięfirst name

12. Drugie imięsecond name

14. Imię ojcafather’s name

16. Imię matkimother’s name

18. Data urodzenia (dzień – miesiąc – rok)date of birth: dayday-monthmonth-yearyear

20. Miejsce (miejscowość) urodzeniacity where you were born

22. Płećgender

1. Kobietafemale

2. Mężczyznamale

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 tożsamośćYour ID type:

ID cardDOWÓD OSOBISTY

Stay cardKARTA POBYTU CUDZOZIEMCA

Polish passportPASZPORT POLSKI

Temporary ID cardTYMCZASOWY DOWÓD OSOBISTY

Temporary document for identificationTYMCZASOWE ZAŚWIADCZENIE TOŻSAMOŚCI

Foreign passportPASZPORT ZAGRANICZNY

27. Seria i numer dokumentu stwierdzającego tożsamośćthe number of the chosen identification document

29. Obywatelstwo (należy podać wszystkie obywatelstwa posiadane w dniu składania zgłoszenia) – All citizenships that you possess, for example:

BritishBRYTYJSKIE

AmericanAMERYKAŃSKIE

Indian – INDYJSKIE

ItalianWŁOSKIE

FrenchFRANCUSKIE

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.

 

NIP number: Other tax identification numbers

NIP number: Other tax identification numbers

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.

 

NIP number: Place of residence

NIP number: Place of residence

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. Krajcountry

34. Województwovoivodeship

35. Powiatpoviat (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. Gminamunicipality

37. Ulicastreet

38. Nr domunumber (of the building)

39. Nr lokalunumber (of the flat)

40. Miejscowośćcity

41. Kod pocztowypostcode

42. Pocztapost district

 

B.4. Contact details

43. Telefonphone 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).

 

NIP number: Correspondence address

NIP number: Correspondence address

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.

 

NIP Number: Data concerning registered business activity

NIP Number: Data concerning registered business activity

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.

 

NIP number: Personal bank account for repayments and recoveries

NIP number: Personal bank account for repayments and recoveries

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.

 

NIP number: Business bank accounts

NIP number: Business bank accounts

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.

 

NIP number: Signature of the applicant

NIP number: Signature of the applicant

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.

NIP number: Legal instruction

NIP number: Legal instruction

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:

Ministerstwo Finansów

Ustawa o zasadach ewidencji i identyfikacji podatników

Rozporządzenie Ministra Finansów z dnia 22 sierpnia 2005 r. w sprawie właściwości organów podatkowych

Centrum Informacji Podatkowej

Interactive NIP-7 form

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