Payroll & shadow payroll in Poland for foreign employers

Who signs the filings

The monthly ZUS and tax filings are submitted under the payer arrangement set up during onboarding — the same arrangement that lets a foreign company run Polish payroll without a local entity. Under this model the employee signs a real Polish employment contract directly with you, the foreign employer, and is registered as the technical (formal) payer of social-security contributions; the legal basis is Article 21(2) of Regulation (EC) 987/2009, for employers based in the EU, EEA or Switzerland. We prepare and lodge every filing on that basis, by power of attorney — you are not left to navigate ZUS in Polish.

This is a genuine legal role, not a paperwork formality — which is exactly why the arrangement is built so the employer funds the full cost, in full and on time. If the employer ever failed to, the employee would have a claim against the employer. We are upfront about this rather than glossing over it.

This model is for foreign employers from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with no registered office, branch or permanent establishment in Poland — screened for your case with a licensed tax adviser, and subject to employment/tax/social-security assessment for the specific setup.

What we do not do with your money

We do not hold or move it. You fund the employee directly; the contributions and the tax advance are settled from there — we never hold your money. We calculate the contributions and the income-tax advance and pass you the figures. That keeps you in control of the payment chain, and it keeps the model clean: no client money sitting in our accounts, no float, no margin on your currency.

And we do not use payroll to hide the real cost. You always see the full gross-to-gross figure — salary plus both contribution shares plus the tax advance — not just the net.

What you get every month

A predictable pack, in English, that a finance team can act on without translation or guesswork. A typical monthly pack includes:

• A payroll summary — gross-to-gross for each employee: base salary, employer contributions, employee contributions, the income-tax advance, and the net.
• The exact amounts and deadlines for each leg of the flow. This includes your funding transfer to the employee and the employee’s onward payments. The contribution total goes to ZUS, paid by the employee as the registered technical payer, with the cost and the responsibility staying with the employer. The income-tax advance runs on a separate track and is, as a rule, the employee’s own obligation. Every statutory deadline is flagged so nothing is missed.
• The prepared statutory filings — the ZUS declarations and the payroll records, ready for submission.
• A payslip for the employee — so the person you hired sees exactly how their pay was built up.
• The FX note, where you pay in EUR or USD — the official NBP rate applied and the resulting PLN figures, so the conversion is never a mystery.

Sample deliverable: a one-page anonymised monthly pack is available on request during the assessment — real format, dummy numbers — so you can see precisely what lands in your inbox before you commit.

The data we need from you

Onboarding is a one-time hand-over, then it runs on a rhythm. To calculate correctly we need the signed employment contract and salary, the employee’s basic tax and residency details, and any recurring variables — bonuses, overtime, absences, benefits. After that, each cycle we only need the month’s changes; if nothing changed, the pack runs on what we already hold.

Deadlines, without the guesswork

Polish payroll runs to statutory monthly deadlines for the contribution and tax filings. Miss one and interest accrues — and it accrues against the person registered to file, not against us. So the calendar is our job: we tell you in good time what to transfer and by when, you fund it, and the filing goes out.

How the tracks fit together

Payroll touches three separate things, and we keep them distinct so you always know what applies where.

• Social security (ZUS): the contributions, run under the Article 21(2) arrangement.
• Income tax (PIT): a separate track. It follows the employee’s residency and any applicable treaty; a foreign employer without an establishment in Poland is not the PIT payer, so the income-tax advance is handled on its own footing; the applicable treatment depends on the employee’s circumstances.
• Labour law: separate again — the payroll is built around Poland’s mandatory rules, not the other way round.

Accurate payroll does not make permanent-establishment or residency questions disappear. Where a role raises either, we flag it separately and screen it with a licensed tax adviser.

How we help

Onboard once, then a predictable monthly rhythm: figures prepared, deadlines flagged, filings ready, questions answered in your timezone and in English. Backed by Biuro Rachunkowe Precyzja, cross-border since 2017.

When it is time to talk to us

Reach out when you are about to run payroll for someone in Poland, when your current setup feels improvised, or when you are moving a contractor onto a proper employment contract. The assessment is free to start — and includes that sample monthly pack, so you see the deliverable before deciding.

Related: the social-security obligations payroll settles each month, how to hire an employee in Poland in the first place, and our packages and pricing.

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This page is general information about a service, not legal or tax advice. Figures, deadlines and obligations depend on your specific case. The specifics of your case are confirmed case by case, with licensed legal and tax advisers where the law requires it.