However, at a certain point this activity may create a tax presence.
A tax presence means that the local tax authorities consider your business as local enough to tax you — even if you have no legal entity, branch, or registration. In tax treaties this is called a permanent estabishment, but the concept is broader.
If your activities create a tax presence, this can trigger obligations such as:
corporate income tax on locally attributable profits
local bookkeeping and reporting requirements
registration with tax authorities
penalties or retroactive tax assessments if risks are missed
The difficulty is that tax presence is not always obvious.
Many companies assume that “no company” automatically means “no tax”, which is not always correct.
Tax presence risks often arise when a company:
has employees or directors working from another country
uses local sales agents or representatives
carries out long-term projects or on-site activities
operates warehouses or fixed facilities
manages local operations from a home office
Whether these activities create a tax presence depends on how authorities apply these tax rules in practice.
Questions around tax presence in Poland typically surface through three institutions.
The first is the National Revenue Administration, responsible for audits and enforcement (link).
The second is the National Tax Information Service. The Director of this body issues individual tax rulings that are widely used in practice as a benchmark for tax risk (link).
Finally, disputes are handled by the administrative courts, starting with the Voivodship Administrative Courts and ultimately the Supreme Administrative Court (link).
In practice, there is a noticeable tension between relatively strict administrative interpretations and more nuanced outcomes in court cases, particularly in matters involving remote work and local support activities.
Remote work has been one of the most debated tax presence topics in Poland in recent years.
In a judgment of the Voivodship Administrative Court in Gliwice dated 24 June 2024 (case reference I SA/Gl 1679/23), the court ruled that remote work performed by an employee from a private apartment in Poland did not automatically create a permanent establishment for the foreign employer. The court rejected the argument that the employee’s home should be treated as a fixed place of business merely because company equipment was used (link).
At the same time, the Director of the National Tax Information Service has taken a stricter position in individual rulings. In a ruling dated 6 May 2025 (reference 0114-KDIP2-1.4010.86.2025.2.MW), it was concluded that a foreign company employing a person who permanently worked remotely from Poland had a taxable presence, even though the employee did not formally sign contracts with customers (link).
The Supreme Administrative Court has repeatedly indicated limits to this approach. According to professional commentary on recent judgments, remote work alone, without the employer having the right to use the premises or exercising organisational control over the location, does not in itself create a permanent establishment (link).
Polish case law also shows that tax presence risks increase significantly where local activities are described as support, but are closely connected to the core business.
In a case reviewed by the Voivodship Administrative Court in Warsaw on 25 July 2019 (case reference III SA/Wa 2687/19) and later upheld by the Supreme Administrative Court, activities carried out by a Polish agent were found not to be preparatory or auxiliary. The courts considered the activities to be an integral part of the foreign company’s revenue-generating operations (link).
This line of cases shows that labels such as marketing or support are not decisive when the underlying activities are closely linked to value creation.
Based on recent rulings and enforcement practice, scrutiny typically increases where remote work becomes structural rather than temporary, where local roles are operational or commercially relevant, where sales support evolves into deal-making or account management, or where arguments rely solely on the absence of a registered office despite a stable local footprint.
These situations are assessed in their entirety rather than through isolated formal criteria.
Once tax presence is identified, the consequences in Poland are generally substantive. Corporate income tax may be assessed on profits attributable to Polish activities, local bookkeeping and documentation may be required retroactively, and profit attribution discussions can become complex and time-consuming. Tax assessments are often issued for prior years once presence is established.
Voluntary correction is possible, but typically more costly than early structuring.
In practice, incorporation in Poland becomes the cleaner option when the local presence is intended to be permanent, when local staff perform functions close to value creation, when operational control or coordination is exercised from Poland, or when predictable compliance is preferred over reliance on interpretation and litigation.
At that point, formal incorporation generally provides more certainty than continuing to operate in a grey tax presence zone.
Across tax systems, the assessment of tax presence typically follows a consistent set of underlying principles:
Substance over legal form
Actual business activities and economic reality carry more weight than contractual labels or formal structures.
People and decision-making
Where key individuals work, negotiate, manage operations or make decisions is often decisive.
Continuity and regularity
Ongoing or recurring activities are treated differently from occasional or incidental involvement.
Economic value creation
Where value is created, managed or controlled is a central factor in tax attribution.
These principles explain why the absence of a legal entity does not automatically eliminate tax exposure.
Tax presence risk is most commonly associated with the following types of activities:
Employees or directors working structurally from another jurisdiction
Sales personnel or agents with decision-making authority
Long-term or recurring on-site projects
Fixed places of business such as offices, warehouses or workshops
Home offices used as a regular base for business operations
The decisive factor is rarely a single activity, but rather the combination, duration and functional role of these activities.
Certain activities are widely regarded as preparatory or auxiliary and typically do not, on their own, create tax presence:
Occasional business travel
Pure marketing or promotional activities
Independent agents acting in the ordinary course of their business
Short-term presence without operational continuity
Supporting functions without decision-making authority
Risk may still arise when these activities evolve or are combined with more substantive functions.