Polish Language Blog

In recent years, business related degree and post-degree programmes offered in English have been increasing in numbers and in popularity in Poland. MBA and Executive MBA programmes in particular have been growing in popularity among candidates and employers in recent years as the growth of Polish economy continues bolstered by foreign investment, which, in turn, results in an increased demand for managers with globally recognised skills.

Today, there are in Poland several dozen MBA (Master In Business Administration) programmes to choose from.  The majority are offered in Polish and English, although a number of programmes are offered exclusively in English.  Programmes offered include two-year full-time MBA courses for students who have completed a university degree and want to become managers and Executive MBA (EMBA) programmes, which are geared towards people already working as managers; they are usually required to have at least three  years of work experience.  These programmes usually last around twenty months.  Increasingly, specialised programmes are   emerging to reflect the changing needs of employers.   The better programmes focus on a practical approach and emphasise case studies based on real-life businesses.

Many of the more highly regarded MBA programmes in Poland partner with foreign business schools, and – in many cases – graduates receive a degree from both the Polish school offering the programme and its foreign partner school.   The Canadian Executive Master of Business Administration Programme (CEMBA), for example, is conducted as a joint venture between the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM).  The graduates receive a degree from both schools.   The Warsaw School of Economics also offers a post-graduate finance programme in English, ‘Warsaw School of Economics and Ernst & Young Executive Studies in Finance’ – a post graduate programme which gives working professionals without a background in finance the opportunity to obtain financial skills.  The courses are taught by university professors and professional trainers from Ernst & Young. 

Other highly regarded international co-operations include: the Warsaw-Illinois Executive MBA, the WEMBA programme, which is a partnership between the Warsaw School of Economics and the University of Minnesota; the partnerships of the Business School of the Warsaw University of Technology with the London Business School, HEC School of Management in Paris and the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration.

This by all means is not an exhaustive list, and there are numerous similar international co-operations between major Polish Universities and highly respected foreign schools which have many years of experience and proven track records of administering internationally renowned MBA programmes.  These types of co-operations help to ensure that the same standards are maintained regardless of whether the degree is obtained in Poland or abroad.

Although expensive compared to other types of post-graduate studies in Poland, Polish MBAs provide excellent value compared to that of their counterparts in the West.  In the UK, for example, an MBA can cost up to GB£ 45, 000.  Meanwhile, MBA programmes in the United States can often cost up to US$ 120, 000 or approximately GB£ 78, 000.   In Poland, internationally recognised programmes of a similar quality generally range from PLN 30, 000 to PLN 70, 000, or approximately GB£ 6, 700 to approximately GB£ 15, 000.

The relatively lower costs and high quality of most of the top MBA programmes in Poland are attracting more and more foreign students, with some schools reporting close to half of their students coming from abroad.  The percentage of foreign students, however, is much smaller in Executive MBA programmes as they require travel on weekends.  Still, for example, the CEMBA programme, which consistently ranks in the top of the field of Executive MBA programmes in Poland, reports that 12.1% of its graduates are foreign and another 14.9% have both Polish and foreign citizenships.  As Polish MBA programmes and Executive MBA programmes continue to participate and move up in international rankings and gain more teaching experience, it is likely that the number of foreign candidates for MBAs in Poland will increase.

Tax return season is here! Some of us have already done it, others wait until last minute….

Today I wanted to tell you a little more about taxes in Poland, since the system is slightly different than in USA.

An individual pays tax on his income as a wage earner or as a self-employed person. The tax for an individual who meets the criteria of a “permanent resident” in Poland will be calculated on his income in Poland and abroad. A foreign resident who is employed in Poland pays tax only on his income earned in Poland.

An individual is a Polish resident if the center of life is in Poland , or if staying in Poland more than 183 days in a fiscal year. An employer is obligated to deduct, immediately on a monthly basis, the tax payable on an employee’s salary. A self-employed person must prepay income tax that will be offset on filing an annual return. The advance payment is determined on the basis of the return made for the previous year. In the event of a new business, the advance will be calculated on the basis of estimates made by the owner of the business.

Poland Individual income tax rates 2011:

Tax Base (PLN) Tax %

1 -85,528 18%

85,528 and over 32% of base exceeding PLN 85,528

Poland Capital Gains

In general, there is no special tax rate for capital gains in Poland. Capital gains are usually added to the regular income of an individual/company and based on the normal tax rates.

Despite this, if real estate is sold by an individual more than 5 years after it was purchased the capital gain is exempt from tax. Sale within 5 years from the date of purchase is taxed at 19%.

Individual’s capital gain from sale of shares is taxed at a final tax rate of 19%.

In Poland dividend and interest income for individuals is taxed at 19% rate.

Reporting Dates & Payment Dates in Poland

The tax year in Poland is the calendar year ending on December 31.

An Individual -An individual whose income is from a salary only is not obliged to file an annual return.

The employer who deducts income tax from the employee transfers the tax to the tax authorities each month.

An individual who is self-employed is obliged to make 11 monthly advance payments.

Each advance must be made by the 20th day of any month for the previous month (in December, an advance is paid for both November and December).

The date for filing the annual return is April 30.

A Company -Payment of advances on tax is similar in the case of a limited company to that of the individual.

The company is obliged to file an estimated return to the tax authorities by March 31, and to pay the difference in the tax.

The latest date for filing an annual return is September 30 (for the previous year).

Poland Corporate Tax

Poland’s corporate tax for the year 2011 is 19%.

A company is a Polish resident if registered in Poland, or managing its activities in Poland.

I moved out of Poland while still in school, so I’m not sure how smoothly the whole process of filing tax returns is…

Maybe someone can share it with us?

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

Warsaw has long been the main housing market in Poland. The city is also where foreigners are buying the largest number of dwellings (mieszkania). According to the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs (Polskie Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych), from 2006 to 2010, foreigners bought housing with a total area of 950,000 sq m in Poland. This means that they own about 19,000 housing units in this country. This is as if they bought all the apartments that were delivered to the market by developers across Poland in the first half of 2011 (18,700). In practice, investment by foreigners in the Polish housing market may be even greater than suggested by official statistics, because the ministry’s data do not cover purchases of apartments from housing cooperatives. Nor do the data include transactions involving investment funds (fundusze inwestycyjne), which are responsible for a large part of the housing purchases made by foreigners in Poland.

What locations do foreigners choose the most often? Invariably, they continue to focus on large cities, showing a particular interest in Warsaw. The Warsaw market is the most liquid (najbardziej płynny), making it easy to buy, sell and rent an apartment. This is probably the reason why 42.5 percent of the housing purchased by foreigners is located in Mazovia province—most of it in Warsaw and vicinity (okolice, sąsiedztwo). Małopolska province is the runner-up (zdobywca drugiego miejsca). It accounts for 12 percent of the total area of housing bought by foreigners in Poland in the past five years.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, British buyers have purchased the most apartments in Poland since 2006. The total area of the premises they purchased during the last five years is almost 154,000 sq m. This is roughly 3,100 dwellings in all considering that the average size of a housing unit available for purchase today is 50 sq m. The Irish are second with 110,000 sq m of housing purchased, corresponding to more than 2,200 50-sq-m flats. A similar result was noted in the case of German buyers, who purchased 109,000 square meters of housing during the analyzed period.

The preferences of foreign buyers vary. Everything depends on the purpose for which they acquire the property. Today they usually buy housing in Poland for their own needs. In previous years, purchases for investment purposes were far more frequent. According to Lion’s House, for over a year now not many foreigners have been looking for real estate for investment purposes. When buying housing for themselves, they usually choose large properties in prime locations. The basic criterion is the prestige of the location and of the property itself. They buy both pre-owned and new housing. Due to their relatively poor familiarity with the market, foreigners often use the services of real estate agents.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)