PESEL for a foreigner in Poland - a controversial topic, as as many tax offices as interpretations.
When does a foreigner receive a PESEL?
The legislation in force since 2018 states that:
the PESEL number is assigned ex officio, i.e. without the foreigner's application, if they are subject to the obligation to register in Poland, i.e. if they reside in Poland over 30 days.
In other cases, the PESEL number is assigned by the Minister of Digitalisation. This is done by virtue of specific provisions. The number of the specific provision must be provided in the application for PESEL. This is the so-called. legal basis of the award. It is precisely with the legal basis for assigning the PESEL number that we usually have the biggest problem.
In order to identify the foreign taxpayer, the tax office requires the foreigner to provide his/her PESEL number. Also in a situation where the foreigner has not lived in Poland for more than 30 days. However, it does not provide the foreigner with any legal basis for its request. The foreigner, not being familiar with special provisions, is not able to provide the legal basis in the application. Thus, the office will not accept the application.
If a foreigner is staying in Poland for more than 30 days, it is his/her obligation to register in Poland. In such a situation, there is no need to submit a separate application for the PESEL number. In such a situation, the municipality office itself assigns the PESEL number to the foreigner.
However, if the foreigner is unwilling or unable to register because, for example, he/she has not lived in Poland for more than 30 days (he/she is employed for the purpose of posting), the employer does not provide the employee with any accommodation on the territory of Poland, such foreigners will not be included in the PESEL register. For this reason, they should be assigned a TIN number for identification purposes.
PESEL for a foreigner in Poland - what do the regulations say about this?
The Law on the Principles of Taxpayer Registration and Identification states in Article 3 that:
tax identifier is:
a/ PESEL number - for taxpayers who are natural persons included in the PESEL register who are not engaged in economic activities or who are not registered taxpayers of goods and services tax;
b/ VAT number - for other entities subject to the registration obligations referred to in Article 2 (taxable persons and insured persons).
A municipality office will not assign a PESEL number ex officio to a foreigner who is not registered in Poland, and therefore requires the foreigner to provide another legal basis. However, there is no such legal basis in relation to tax regulations, because the above-mentioned act provides that taxpayers who are not included in the PESEL register, i.e. who do not reside in Poland, should have a NIP number instead of a PESEL number, which will serve them to identify themselves for tax purposes.
But to make things more complicated, the different offices in different cities require different things. In Wrocław, taxpayers are identified on the basis of their NIP tax identification number. The taxpayer, i.e. a foreigner with no place of residence in Poland, applies for such a number to the Tax Office in person on a special NIP-7 form, which he should personally sign. The NIP number is then entered on all tax returns.
Legal basis for the request - PESEL for a foreigner in Poland
If the tax office requires a PESEL number in order to identify a foreign taxpayer not residing in Poland, then the tax office should be requested to provide the legal basis for such a request.
In that case, the PESEL number should be requested from the municipality of the employer's place of residence. In the application, the foreigner provides an address in Ukraine. The basis given by the tax office is entered as the legal basis.
The requirement of a PESEL number for foreigners not living in Poland is incorrect. However, it is often practised in offices. In the case of foreigners not residing in Poland, employed only for the purpose of posting them to other EU countries, the correct identification number will be the NIP number.
The NIP-7 form should state the foreigner's address in the country of residence and the employer's address in Poland for correspondence. It should also be noted that the TIN for the foreigner should be sent by registered mail to the address of the company or the accountant's office. Otherwise, the foreigner will not be able to receive the correspondence as they will already be abroad.
NOTE!
It happens that foreigners work in Poland for different employers. For this reason, they often already have a previously assigned TIN or PESEL number. We know from experience that they do not pay attention to this, informing subsequent employers that they do not have such numbers. Therefore, we recommend attaching a scan of your passport to the NIP-7. This will help to avoid confusion in names. You should also include a brief statement as to why you are requesting a NIP number (e.g. because the taxpayer is not resident).
9 comments
A foreigner wants to set up a trusted profile and needs a pesel number to do so. What is the legal basis.
The legal basis should always be inquired about from the office that requests this basis. In the case of the necessity to have a trusted profile of a member of the management board of a limited liability company, it will be Article 19e of the Act of 20 August 1997 on the National Court Register, which concerns sending the company's financial statements in electronic form. It all depends on the purpose for which this number is required.
Regulation of the Minister of Digitalisation of 29 June 2020 on trusted profile and trusted signature, Journal of Laws. 2020 item 1194
And if a foreigner has bought a car and wants to pay tax on the purchase and the tax office requires his identity card number, what is the legal basis and then wants to register the car in his own name?
You will then have to ask this tax office for the legal basis or apply for a NIP number, unless the foreigner is registered in Poland. In this case, the municipality will assign the PESEL number ex officio.
You will need to request the legal basis from the tax office or apply for a NIP number there. If you are registered in the PL, you will automatically be issued with a PESEL number.
If a foreigner wants to register a company in Poland. To do so, he needs a pesel number. What is the legal basis for obtaining a pesel number?
At the moment, if a foreigner is not registered in Poland (when registering they receive a PEsEL automatically) from 1 June 2021 they can apply for a PESEL number for tax purposes. In the application for a PESEL number, it is then necessary to indicate the relevant legal basis, i.e. Article 3(1)(1) of the Act on the Rules for Registration and Identification of Taxpayers and Payers (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 170, as amended), in connection with Article 7(2) and to the extent specified in Article 9(4) of the Act on Population Registration (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 510).