Poland

Foreign businesses are allowed, under certain conditions, to establish their branch offices (exclusively within the scope of their ‘foreign’ business activity) and representative offices (exclusively with regard to promotion and advertising) in Poland.

A branch office almost always has PE status in Poland. Once a branch is established, the foreign company pays CIT at the standard rate of 19%, based on the income attributable to the operations of the Polish branch. For this purpose, as well as for accounting purposes, a branch is obligated to keep accounting books that include all the data necessary to establish the taxable base. In this respect, general income determination rules relevant to Polish companies apply to branches as well. In the few cases in which a branch can demonstrate, based on a DTT, that its business presence in Poland does not constitute a PE, its profits are not subject to Polish CIT.