Guide · Starting a business
Updated: · 7 min read · By Agnieszka Saladra, Certified Accountant
Starting a sole proprietorship (JDG) in 2026 is completely free and can be done online in a dozen or so minutes. In this guide we take you through the whole process step by step - from registration in CEIDG (the Central Register and Information on Economic Activity), through choosing a form of taxation, to registering with ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) and any VAT registration. As an online accounting office, we help with these formalities every day.
In short
Before you fill in the application, it is worth thinking through a few decisions that affect taxes and contributions throughout the year. Made well at the start, they later save money and nerves. This is the moment when support from an accounting office has the greatest value.
Above all, consider the form of taxation, the scope of activity (PKD codes) and whether you will need or want to be an active VAT payer. You declare these three elements already in the first application.
PKD codes (the Polish Classification of Activities) describe what your company actually does. In the application you give one main code - corresponding to the predominant activity - and any number of additional codes.
The choice of codes has practical significance: some types of activity affect the available lump-sum tax (ryczalt) rates, and some require a licence, a permit or an entry in the register of regulated activity. It is better to add codes 'just in case' than to update the entry later - additional codes do not generate costs or obligations.
In 2026 you have three basic forms to choose from: the tax scale, the flat tax and the lump-sum tax on recorded revenue (ryczalt). You declare your choice directly in the CEIDG-1 application, and in later years you can change it - you file a declaration by the 20th day of the month following the month in which you earn your first revenue in a given year, and if that first revenue falls in December, by the end of the tax year. For a firm that has revenue already in January, the deadline therefore falls on 20 February.
There is no single form that is best for everyone - the decision depends on revenue, costs and industry. This is a typical moment when it is worth using a consultation, because an experienced accountant will calculate the options against your numbers.
Registering a sole proprietorship is completely free and done online. Go to the biznes.gov.pl portal and select the service for registering a business activity.
The CEIDG-1 application is at the same time a notification to the tax office, the Central Statistical Office (GUS) and ZUS as a contributions payer, so you do not have to file separate documents with these institutions. This is a major simplification compared with the old, paper-based workflow.
The CEIDG-1 application registers you with ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) as a contributions payer - you do not file a separate form for that. It does not, however, register you for insurance: to register yourself on form ZUS ZUA or ZUS ZZA you have 7 days from the day you start your business. You can attach it to the CEIDG-1 application straight away, or file it later via biznes.gov.pl or directly at ZUS.
New entrepreneurs usually use reliefs that significantly lower contributions at the start of their activity.
The reliefs are not mandatory - you can deliberately opt out of some of them, for example when you want full sickness or pension insurance. It is worth consulting this decision, because it affects the level of your future benefits.
Not every entrepreneur has to register for VAT. In 2026 the threshold for the subjective exemption rose to PLN 240,000 in annual turnover (previously PLN 200,000). As long as your sales fall within this threshold and your activity is not in an industry covered by mandatory VAT, you can use the exemption.
From the first day of your activity you also keep records for tax purposes - their form depends on the chosen method of taxation. This is where ongoing accounting begins, which is easiest to entrust to an accounting office so that you can focus on the business itself.
At Luno-Group we run online accounting, but behind the settlements stand experienced accountants, not the app alone. As a result, at every stage of starting a company you can talk to a specific person who knows your situation.
We offer help with starting the business itself free of charge - from choosing PKD codes and comparing the forms of taxation, through filling in the CEIDG-1 application, to registering with ZUS. We then take over the ongoing accounting, so that from the first day you can be sure the formalities are buttoned up.
Sources and legal basis
Registering a sole proprietorship in CEIDG is completely free - there is no fee for the entry. Costs appear only later, mainly in the form of ZUS contributions and possible accounting services. At Luno-Group, help with starting the company itself is free.
Filling in and submitting the CEIDG-1 application online usually takes a dozen or so minutes, if you have the data and a Trusted Profile or e-ID ready. The entry in the register is made, as a rule, no later than the next business day after a correct application is filed.
The CEIDG-1 application itself registers you with ZUS as a contributions payer. To register yourself for insurance - on form ZUS ZUA or ZUS ZZA - you have 7 days from the day you start your business; you can file it together with the CEIDG-1 application, via biznes.gov.pl or directly at ZUS. It is worth deciding straight away which relief you want to use.
The start relief applies for the first 6 months and exempts you from social contributions - you pay only the health contribution. After it, preferential ZUS with reduced social contributions applies for 24 months. These are two different, consecutive stages.
Not always. In 2026 you can use the VAT exemption as long as annual turnover does not exceed PLN 240,000 and your industry is not covered by mandatory VAT. If, however, VAT registration is worthwhile for you, you can register voluntarily by submitting the VAT-R form.
For a sole proprietorship a business account is not always formally required - you can use a private account. It can, however, be necessary for transactions above the cash payment limits and under the VAT split payment mechanism, so in practice one is usually opened.