EUCON Legal Group and the Association of Ukrainian Business in Poland became information partners of the international B2B conference InvestPro Poland & Ukraine in Warsaw 2022 by Bosco Conference, which took place on November 9 in Warsaw. The event was attended by Yaroslav Romanchuk, Attorney at Law, Managing Partner of EUCON, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Ukrainian Business in Poland, and Andrii Romanchuk, Attorney at Law, Partner, Head of EUCON office in Warsaw, who spoke on the topic “Practical aspects of temporary relocation of business to Poland through the prism of legal, tax, accounting and migration issues”.
The event brought together over 200 participants from more than 30 countries specializing in corporate and banking services, asset protection, private capital management, investment, real estate and taxation. Experts discussed the issues of promising areas for investment, key aspects of capital management and asset protection, the main business programs for business relocation, advantages, benefits and disadvantages of relocation programs, investing in real estate in other countries, issues of modernization of business structure, international taxation, opening accounts in foreign banks, etc.
Andrii Romanchuk presented to the conference participants the activities of EUCON, in particular in the direction of supporting companies and startups in entering European markets, demonstrating practical cases of the company. The speaker demonstrated the mechanism of the ecosystem of the startup network operating between Ukraine and Poland through the mediation of the Association of Ukrainian Business in Poland and Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge, as well as ISE Corporate Accelerator (from the Ukrainian side) and Rebels Valley, Startup Academy (from the Polish side).
Moving on to the topic of tax aspects of doing business in Poland, Mr. Andrii named the main tax rates in Poland, including the tax on goods and services – VAT 23%, 8%, 5%, 0%; corporate income tax (CIT) – 19% or 9%; Estonian CIT as a special type of taxation of corporate income; personal income tax (PIT) – 12% or 32%; transaction tax from 0.1% to 2%; real estate tax (set by the Council of the Commune).
The expert considered in more detail the taxation of corporate income in Poland (CIT), the mechanisms of the Estonian CIT in Poland (corporate income tax (CIT), dividend tax, general taxation of CIT, Estonian CIT), corporate income tax (CIT) – 2020, personal income tax (PIT) (by % of tax for I and II taxation thresholds), personal income tax of individuals registered as private entrepreneurs in Poland (PIT) (tax scale, flat tax, fixed tax amount, tax card) and personal income tax (PIT) – 2020.
Andrii Romanchuk emphasized that Poland during 2014-2020 became the most successful beneficiary of funding from the EU funds, which were effectively used for the development of various sectors of the economy, and also drew the attention of the participants to the possibility of using financial instruments in Poland in the context of the planned EU allocation of 160 billion euros in 2021-2027, of which 125 billion will be allocated for co-financing and 35 billion – for loans.
In addition, the speaker elaborated on the factors that make the Polish market attractive for foreign investors (special economic zones, industrial and technological parks, government grants, cheap banking programs, certain tax benefits, etc.), as well as on nine types of financing (FFF, accelerators, business angel, grant, VC Funds, crowdfunding, mezzanine funds, private equity funds, IPO).
Very important in the context of the topic are the issues of the most common problems that startups encountered when operating in Poland and using financial instruments, and the most difficult regulatory barriers for startups.
Andrii Romanchuk provided statistics on the amount of funding raised, the number and value of investments attracted by startups and their distribution, as well as spoke about the sources of funding most often used by startups, in particular: Polish and foreign venture funds, own funds, business angels and PARP.
The expert also told the participants what amounts of funding are most often attracted, how much investment startups in Poland attracted in the 2nd quarter of 2022, provided statistics on the distribution of the largest share of investments in Poland in 2022 and the value of investments attracted in startups in Poland in 2021.
Mr. Andrii concluded his speech by analyzing the most common problems related to business entry into the Polish market, including: accounting aspects; opening a bank account; access to financial instruments (loans); differences in mentality; management approach (authoritarian – owners/managers/team); work-life balance; problems at the border; immigration problems; attempts of the owner to do business in Poland remotely, etc.
Participants at the event included: Gilles-Emmanuel Trutat – founder of Capital Systeme Investissements (Switzerland); Kateryna Kurlovych – Director, International Cooperation at bbf (Cyprus); Dr. Csaba Magyar – Managing Partner, Crystal Worldwide Group (Hungary); Adam Morawski – Managing Partner, Morawski & Partners Law Firm; Mag. Johannes Schwarz – CEO, Zugimpex (Switzerland) and others.
