PESEL, NIP, CEIDG and ZUS: the registration steps for foreigners

Registering a JDG is mostly one online application (CEIDG-1). The order matters, though: identification first, then CEIDG, then ZUS details. Below is the sequence as described by the official portal biznes.gov.pl.

1. Check that you are allowed to run a JDG

   Your citizenship or residence title decides this – see Who can open a JDG in Poland.

2. Get a PESEL number

   PESEL is the Polish personal ID number. A foreigner can apply at any municipal office (urząd gminy); the application must state the legal basis that requires you to have a PESEL (biznes.gov.pl). From 1 November 2026 a foreign person applying for a CEIDG entry must have a PESEL or, if none was assigned, a unique EU cross-border (eIDAS) identifier – art. 4(9) of the Act on foreign entrepreneurs.

3. Choose how to sign: online or in person

   Online, you sign the application with a trusted profile (profil zaufany), an e-ID or a qualified signature on biznes.gov.pl. Without them you can file at a municipal office. The English start of the guide is How to start a JDG.

4. File CEIDG-1 – this also gives you NIP and REGON

   If you do not have NIP (tax ID) and REGON (statistical number), the CEIDG-1 application is at the same time the request to assign them; they are added to your entry automatically. The same application reports you to the tax office as a taxpayer and to ZUS (or KRUS) as a contribution payer. You choose the tax form (scale, flat 19% or lump-sum ryczałt) and your PKD activity codes in the form.

   According to the official instructions, the entry appears within 1 working day of signing for EU citizens, and within 30 days for persons from outside the EU.

5. Attach the ZUS registration

   Choosing ZUS in CEIDG-1 is not yet registering for insurance. Attach ZUS ZZA (health insurance only) or ZUS ZUA (social and health insurance) to the application; family members go on ZUS ZCNA. Which one depends on whether you use the start relief:

   • Start relief (ulga na start, art. 18 of the Entrepreneurs' Law): if you start a business for the first time (or more than 60 months after the last one ended or was suspended) and do not work for a former employer from this or last calendar year in the same scope, you are not subject to compulsory social insurance for 6 months – you pay only the health contribution (ZZA).
   • After that, ZUS describes a lower "preferential" contribution base for the following period and then the full base. Check the current amounts on zus.pl or in the ZUS contributions calculator.

6. VAT: only if you need it

   VAT registration (VAT-R) is separate. Many sole traders start VAT-exempt under the turnover limit – see Invoicing and KSeF.

7. Open a business account and add it to CEIDG

   See Business bank account – the account number goes to the tax office through a CEIDG update.

Not sure which tax form fits? Compare them in the JDG tax form calculator.