The Business Constitution of 2018 i.e. the new business law.

The so-called Business Constitution in Poland refers a package of 5 laws that aim to reform and improve the legal framework for running a business in Poland that has been functioning for many years.
The laws that constitute the Business Constitution are:

1. Business law.
2. Act on the Commissioner for Small and Medium-sized Businesses,
3. Act on Central Registration and Information on Business Activity and the Business Information Point.
4. Act Governing the Business Operations of Foreign Enterprises and other Foreign Persons on the Territory of the Republic of Poland.
5. Regulations introducing the Business Law Act and other Acts pertaining to business activity.

The changes that are covered by the Business Constitution include, first and foremost: the relations of the entrepreneur with government offices and the settling of official matters, setting up of businesses, suspension of economic activity, principles of creating business law, conducting business activities and related duties.

The changes that are intended to help make operating a business easier in Poland:

Relief for new business start-ups.

Entrepreneurs starting a business in Poland will be exempt from social security contributions for the first six months. In addition, the entrepreneur, after the expiry of this 6 month period, will be able to apply the so-called "small ZUS" for the next two years. The use of the relief at the start of operations also has its drawbacks - the period will not be taken into account for the calculation of retirement or pension benefits and will not allow the beneficiary to claim sickness benefit. Therefore, the entrepreneur will have the option to voluntarily give up the relief.

The Business Constitution and so-called unregistered activities.

The provisions of the Business Constitution also provide for the possibility of setting up a company in Poland for a trial period. Although this will apply to occasional gainful activity of natural persons, it will not exempt them from the need to pay tax. The income from running a company for a trial period will not be able to exceed 50% of the minimum wage in any given month. At the moment, this stands at PLN 1,050. The tax in Poland on such activities will be settled on general principles. In the situation where the limit is exceeded, the person who has been operating a company for a trial period is obliged to start normal operations within 7 days and make the appropriate registration in CEIDG.

NIP as the primary number of the entrepreneur.

According to the new regulations the NIP number is to be the main identifier of persons conducting business operations. The REGON number that is assigned by the Central Statistical Office will gradually disappear from official forms.

Improvement of the entrepreneur's relations with government offices.

The Business Law which will replace the Act on Freedom of Business Activity introduces the principle of the presumption of integrity, which is to strengthen the relations between the entrepreneur and the government offices. The most important aspects changed in this respect are:

• introduction of the rule: what is not prohibited by law is permitted,
• benevolent interpretation of the regulations, i.e. resolution of unclear regulations in favour of the entrepreneur,
• the principle of proportionality, which is based on the fact that penalties imposed on entrepreneurs are to be proportional to their ability to pay them or to the severity of the offense,
• appointing the Commissioner for Small and Medium-sized Businesses who's task will be to protect micro, small and medium-sized businesses, improve the legal environment in which they operate and ensure "better partnership relations between entrepreneurs and public administration authorities".

Suspension of activity in the case of an employee on maternity leave.

The Business Constitution introduces the possibility of suspending operations when employing an employee who is on maternity or parental leave. Until now this was impossible. In addition, the company will be able to be suspended not only for a maximum of 24 months but also for an indefinite period.

Most of the new regulations will enter into force 30 days after being published in the Journal of Laws. In practice, whether and to what extent the introduction of the new regulations will affect the situation of Polish entrepreneurs, remains an open question.