A local tax that exists almost nowhere else
On top of 15.825 % corporate tax and surcharge comes another 14–17.5 %, depending on your municipality. Poland simply has no such tax.
For business owners in Germany
30 % tax in Germany. 9 % in Poland. The same EU market.
A Polish sp. z o.o. is an EU limited company exactly like your GmbH — EU VAT number, single-market access, bank account. Without the local business tax, without €25,000 of locked-up capital, and without a five-figure accounting bill.
No pressure. If the move does not pay for you, we will say so.
- Registered accounting firm in Warsaw
- Advice in German, Turkish and English
- Company formed in 1–3 business days
- Google rating 4.9 / 5
At a glance
Four numbers that decide it
The full breakdown is further down. This is the part that stays with you.
-
Tax on profit
−21pp
lower in Poland
- Germany
- ≈ 30 %
- Poland
- 9 %
-
Capital before you start
22×
lower in Poland
- Germany
- €25,000
- Poland
- €1,160
-
Time to registration
11×
faster in Poland
- Germany
- weeks
- Poland
- 1–3 days
-
Accounting per year
3.4×
lower in Poland
- Germany
- ≈ €9,500
- Poland
- ≈ €2,800
The problem
What a GmbH actually costs you
€25,000 of dead capital
At least €12,500 must be paid in before you are even registered. In Poland it is PLN 5,000 — about €1,160.
Accounting billed by statutory scale
For a small GmbH, €7,000–12,000 a year is normal for bookkeeping and annual accounts together. In Poland the same work costs a fraction.
Weeks to get registered
Notary appointment, commercial register, trade office. Through Poland’s S24 route the company exists in 1–3 business days.
Calculated, not claimed
One company, two countries, one year
The same business and the same numbers — once as a German GmbH, once as a Polish sp. z o.o. Every assumption is printed next to the result.
Assumptions
- Annual revenue
- €500,000
- Profit before tax
- €150,000
- Legal form
- GmbH ↔ sp. z o.o.
- Local tax multiplier
- 400 % (typical large city)
| Germany (GmbH) | Poland (sp. z o.o.) | |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate income tax (+ surcharge) 15.825 % against 9 % for small companies | €23,738 | €13,500 |
| Local business tax Poland has no equivalent. | €21,000 | €0 |
| Accounting & annual accounts Midpoint of market ranges, not Meyis prices. | €9,000 | €2,800 |
| Total per year | €53,738 | €16,300 |
Difference per year €37,438
Reinvest the profit instead of distributing it and Poland’s Estonian CIT charges no corporate tax at all until you take it out.
Worked example at a 400 % municipal multiplier. Your real figure depends on your municipality, legal form and circumstances — which is exactly what the first call establishes.
Your numbers
Work it out for your own company
Set your profit and your local multiplier. The maths runs in your browser — none of it is sent anywhere.
20000–1000000 €
€
Your local business tax multiplier
Tax regime in Poland
Germany takes
—
Poland takes
—
You keep
—
— over five years
Under Estonian CIT no corporate tax arises at first. On distribution 10 % or 20 % falls due — which is why this reads €0 rather than "tax free".
Go through this figure with usA simplified model on profit, excluding any distribution to you personally. The 9 % rate assumes prior-year revenue below PLN 8,517,000.
The full comparison
Germany and Poland, line by line
Including the lines where Germany comes out ahead. You are making a decision about your company — for that you need both sides.
Corporate taxes
-
Corporate income tax
Germany15 % + 5.5 % solidarity surcharge = 15.825 %
Poland aheadPoland19 % — or 9 % for small companies
The 9 % rate applies below PLN 8,517,000 (≈ €1.98 m) prior-year revenue, and only to operating income.
-
Local business tax
Germany3.5 % × municipal multiplier
−14 not charged in PolandPolanddoes not exist
Average multiplier ≈ 361 %, 400–500 % in large cities — that is a further 14–17.5 % on profit.
-
Total burden on profit
Germany≈ 30 % (26.38 % floor)
−21 lower in PolandPoland9 % or 19 %
-
Retained (reinvested) profit
Germanyfully taxable
Poland aheadPolandEstonian CIT: 0 % until distributed
On distribution 10 % (small) or 20 %. Mutually exclusive with the 9 % regime — one or the other.
-
Rate trend
GermanyCorporate rate steps down to 10 % by 2032
Germany aheadPoland9 % / 19 % unchanged
Local business tax is untouched — Germany’s total still lands at ≈ 25 % in 2032.
Forming the company
-
Minimum share capital
Germany€25,000 (at least €12,500 paid in)
22 lower in PolandPolandPLN 5,000 ≈ €1,160
-
Notary
Germanymandatory
Poland aheadPolandnot required (S24 online route)
-
Formation cost
Germany≈ €500–1,150 (notary, register, trade office)
12 lower in PolandPoland≈ PLN 275 ≈ €65 (court fee + transfer tax)
Midpoint of the ranges quoted
-
Time to registration
Germanyseveral weeks
11 faster in PolandPoland1–3 business days
Business days, typical course
-
Contribution in kind
Germanyallowed
Germany aheadPolandS24 route is cash only
Running costs
-
Monthly bookkeeping
Germany€200–800 / month
2.2 lower in PolandPolandPLN 500–1,500 ≈ €115–350 / month
Midpoint of the ranges, per month
-
Annual accounts & returns
Germany€2,000–7,000 on top
−€4,500 not charged in PolandPolandusually inside the monthly fee
-
Accounting per year, total
Germany€7,000–12,000 (small GmbH)
3.4 lower in PolandPoland≈ €1,400–4,200
Midpoint of the ranges, per year
Market ranges, not Meyis prices — our quote is prepared individually.
Staff & payroll cost
-
Statutory minimum wage
Germany€13.90/hour ≈ €2,400 / month
2.1 lower in PolandPolandPLN 4,806 ≈ €1,120 / month
Full time, per month
Germany: from 1 Jan 2026, up 8.4 % from €12.82.
-
Employer social contribution share
Germany≈ 21 %
≈ effectively the samePoland≈ 20.5 %
Effectively identical. The difference is the wage level, not the rate — anyone promising otherwise is doing the maths wrong.
-
Total social insurance (employer + employee)
Germany≈ 41.3 %
−6.8 lower in PolandPoland≈ 34–35 %
VAT & obligations
-
Standard VAT rate
Germany19 %
+4.0 higher in PolandPoland23 %
Higher — but neutral in B2B and EU trade: input deduction and reverse charge cancel it out.
-
Owner’s own social contributions
Germanynone for a GmbH shareholder
+€640 only in PolandPolandSole shareholder: ≈ PLN 2,757 ≈ €640 / month
Sole shareholder, per month
Payable even with no revenue. It disappears with more than one shareholder — but the structure must be genuine, not 99/1 on paper.
-
E-invoicing
Germanymandate phasing in
LevelPolandKSeF mandatory — we handle onboarding
Getting the company
Weeks against business days
Both routes end in an EU limited company. Only one of them needs a notary appointment.
Germany — GmbH
several weeks
- 1 Articles signed before a notary
- 2 Pay in the share capital
- 3 Entry in the commercial register
- 4 Trade office and tax office
Poland — sp. z o.o.
1–3 business days
- 1 Register on the S24 portal
- 2 Sign the articles digitally
- 3 Entry in the KRS
- 4 Tax number, VAT number, account
Honestly
What does not get cheaper in Poland
A provider who lists only advantages is selling you a number. We raise these five before the contract, not after.
- VAT is 23 %, not 19 %. Neutral in B2B and EU trade; not neutral if you sell to consumers.
- As a sole shareholder you pay social and health contributions of roughly PLN 2,757 (≈ €640) a month — revenue or no revenue.
- KSeF e-invoicing is mandatory in Poland. We handle the onboarding, but it is a real step.
- Employer social contributions sit at ≈ 20.5 % — effectively the same as Germany. What is cheaper is the wage level, not the rate.
- A trading German business does not move by filing a form. Substance, permanent establishment and possibly exit taxation decide whether Germany really loses its taxing rights.
How it works
From the first question to running bookkeeping
- 01
First call
We listen to your situation and tell you whether — and in what form — the move pays for you.
- 02
Set the structure
Legal form, shareholders, tax regime, registered seat — matched to your business, not to a template.
- 03
Formation
Registration via S24 in 1–3 business days, then tax number, EU VAT number and bank account.
- 04
Running the company
We take over bookkeeping, payroll, KSeF and every deadline — in your language, with one named contact.
Request a first call
Tell us about your business
The more precise your answers, the more concrete our call back. We reply within 24 hours — in German, Turkish or English.
- Registered accounting firm in Warsaw
- Advice in German, Turkish and English
- No pressure. If the move does not pay for you, we will say so.
Common questions
What business owners ask us first
Is this legal, or is it tax evasion?
Forming a company in another EU member state is expressly protected by freedom of establishment. What decides the case is substance: the company must genuinely be run where it is registered. A letterbox address while the business is still directed from Germany creates a German permanent establishment — German tax liability plus back payments. That is precisely why the first call covers substance before it covers rates.
Do I have to move to Poland?
No. Neither shareholders nor directors of a sp. z o.o. need to live in Poland, and there is no nationality requirement. Your personal residence still governs your own income tax, though — stay resident in Germany and distributions to you are taxed there. We work that through with you beforehand.
Can I keep my German GmbH?
Yes, and often that is the right answer. Many clients keep the German business running and build in Poland the part that genuinely happens there — purchasing, logistics, production, IT or administration. Others close the GmbH only once the Polish company is established. Which fits you depends on your customers, contracts and staff.
What happens to my German customers and VAT?
In B2B, usually nothing you will feel: your Polish company gets an EU VAT number and intra-community supplies run under reverse charge — your German customer pays net and accounts for the tax itself. Selling to consumers in Germany is different: distance-selling rules apply and above €10,000 a year the German rate does, normally through OSS.
How fast is it really?
Registration via S24 takes one day by statute and one to three business days in practice. For the company to be genuinely operational — tax number, VAT registration, EU VAT number and a business account — plan for two to four weeks. Anyone promising all of it in 24 hours means the register entry alone.
Will I have a contact who speaks my language?
Yes. Meyis advises in Turkish, German, English and Polish, and you get one named contact rather than a switchboard. Official correspondence arrives in Polish — we translate it and tell you what to do and by when.
What does Meyis charge?
Our fee depends on document volume, headcount, VAT obligations and the language of service, so we do not publish flat prices. After the first call you get a written fixed quote — the Polish market ranges are in the comparison above so you can place our offer against them.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from publicly available sources, current as of August 2026. Last verified: 2026-08-18
- GmbH-Steuern 2026 — Körperschaftsteuer, Gewerbesteuer, Gesamtbelastung
- Gewerbesteuer — Steuermesszahl und Hebesätze
- Gesetz für ein steuerliches Investitionssofortprogramm — KSt-Senkung 2028–2032
- Notarkosten GmbH-Gründung 2026
- GmbH-Gründung 2026 — Kosten und Ablauf
- Mindestlohn ab 1. Januar 2026 — Bundesregierung
- Sozialversicherungsbeiträge 2026 — Beitragssätze und Arbeitgeberanteil
- Steuerberater-Kosten GmbH 2026
- 9 % CIT 2026 — limity i warunki
- Estoński CIT — stawki 10 % / 20 %
- Koszt rejestracji spółki z o.o. 2026 (S24)
- Składki ZUS 2026 dla przedsiębiorców
- ZUS wspólnika jednoosobowej spółki z o.o. 2026
- Ile kosztuje biuro rachunkowe 2026
This page is general information and does not replace tax or legal advice on your specific case. Rates, contributions and fees change; your own circumstances decide the outcome.