I am a Ukrainian citizen and I have decided to start working in Poland. Do I need to obtain a PESEL for this? Do I need to obtain a NIP? If yes, which one and how to do it?

Any Ukrainian citizen who resides in Poland legally may be employed, so there is no obligation to obtain a PESEL number first.Both persons with a residence permit and Ukrainian citizens who entered Poland after 24 February (even if they have not yet obtained a PESEL number) can be employed under simplified rules. The only requirement is that within 14 days from the date of taking up employment the employer notifies the competent district labour office – competent for the seat or place of residence of the employer. The employer notifies the office electronically on the portal praca.gov.pl.

It should be emphasized that if a given person takes up employment, he becomes an entity to which the provisions of the Act of October 13, 1995 on the principles of registration and identification of taxpayers and remitters apply. Pursuant to the regulations of the indicated legal act, natural persons, legal persons and organizational units without legal personality, which are taxpayers on the basis of separate acts, are subject to the registration obligation. In this context, each entity, e.g. a physical entity that is a taxpayer, must have a tax identifier. The tax identifier is:

PESEL number – in the case of taxpayers who are natural persons included in the PESEL register who do not conduct business activity or are not registered VAT taxpayers;

NIP (tax identification number) – in the case of other entities subject to the registration obligation.

The above means that a person planning to start employment in Poland / working in Poland must have a PESEL number, which is their tax identifier.