Opening a beauty salon in Poland requires registering the business, selecting the right PKD codes, preparing premises compliant with sanitary requirements and installing a cash register before the first service. Hairdressing and beauty services are excluded from the cash register exemption, so this step cannot be postponed. Below we describe the successive stages and the tax decisions that have the greatest impact on the salon's profitability.
Form of running the salon
The choice of form depends on the scale and plans for growth. The three most frequently considered variants are:
| Form | For whom | What to watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietorship (JDG) | a stylist or beautician working alone or with a few people | liability for debts with all assets, ZUS contributions after the relief period |
| Sp. z o.o. (limited liability company) | a salon with several workstations, partners, plans for a chain or franchise | full accounting, double taxation of profit paid as a dividend |
| Unregistered business activity (działalność nierejestrowana) | only testing an idea on a very small scale, e.g. individual treatments | low quarterly revenue limit, no possibility of employing people and running premises on a larger scale |
Foreigners should first check whether their residence status allows them to register independently in CEIDG — we explain this in the article on starting a business as a foreigner. People who do not have such a right usually set up a sp. z o.o.
2025 PKD codes for the salon
A new PKD classification has applied since 2025. For the beauty industry, two subclasses from section 96 are key:
- 96.21.Z (hairdressing) — hair cutting, colouring, styling, shaving and beard trimming,
- 96.22.Z (beauty care and other cosmetic services) — including manicure, pedicure, permanent make-up, depilation, tanning and cosmetology treatments performed by beauticians who are not medical workers.
Procedures performed only by a doctor (e.g. plastic surgery) belong to a different subclass in the healthcare section — a signal that the border between cosmetology and aesthetic medicine is also legally relevant. If the salon sells cosmetics to take away, it is worth adding a retail trade code. The details of selecting codes are discussed in the article on choosing PKD codes.
Premises and sanitary requirements
The premises should have a service purpose, access to running water, sanitary facilities for staff and a place for the safe storage of tools and disinfectants. Before signing a lease it is worth checking in the building documentation and with the lessor whether such activity is allowed there.
Specific obligations apply to procedures that break the continuity of the skin — e.g. permanent make-up, ear piercing, microneedling or cuticle removal with a drill. Under Article 16 of the Act on preventing and combating human infections and infectious diseases, a person performing such activities must implement and apply procedures for protection against infections. The procedures should describe:
- how to perform a procedure that breaks the continuity of tissues,
- rules for the use and sterilisation of tools,
- disinfection of the skin and mucous membranes,
- decontamination of rooms and devices.
The State District Sanitary Inspector, at the salon's request, issues an opinion on these procedures. The opinion is not mandatory, but it tidies up the documentation and makes it easier to pass a possible inspection by the Sanitary Inspection. In practice, a sterilisation register (e.g. printouts from an autoclave) and a contract with a waste collection company are also useful.
Cash register from the first client
The December 2024 Regulation of the Minister of Finance on exemptions from recording with cash registers excludes hairdressing, beauty and cosmetology services from the exemptions, including from the PLN 20,000 turnover exemption. This means that the salon must record sales on a cash register from the first service provided to a private person. The cash register must therefore be purchased and fiscalised before opening. The general rules are described in the article on who must have a cash register, and up-to-date information is published by the podatki.gov.pl portal.
VAT and income tax
VAT
The salon can use the turnover-based VAT exemption as long as the value of sales in 2026 does not exceed PLN 240,000 per year (in the first year the limit is calculated proportionally). After exceeding the limit or on voluntary registration, it should be kept in mind that hairdressing services are on the list of services covered by the reduced rate, whereas beauty procedures are as a rule taxed at the standard rate. In planning prices for private clients this has a direct impact on the margin.
Income tax
For a salon run as a sole proprietorship the comparison is most often between:
- ryczałt (lump-sum tax on recorded revenue) — hairdressing and beauty services fall under the general category of service activity for which the rate is 8.5%; favourable when costs are low,
- the tax scale or the flat tax (podatek liniowy) — better with a high rent, expensive equipment and employees, because they allow costs to be deducted.
Plan for launching the salon step by step
- Business plan: number of workstations, pricing, break-even point at the assumed rent.
- Choice of the form of activity and form of taxation.
- Registration in CEIDG or KRS with codes 96.21.Z and/or 96.22.Z.
- Lease for the premises and adaptation of the rooms.
- Sanitary procedures for treatments that break the continuity of the skin, contract for waste collection.
- Purchase and fiscalisation of the cash register, payment terminal.
- Agreements with staff: employment contract (umowa o pracę) or renting a workstation to another company — each of these forms has different tax and contribution consequences.
- Privacy policy and client consents — a client card with information on contraindications contains health data, which is subject to RODO (GDPR).
Example
Ms Olena plans a salon with two manicure stations and one cosmetology room. She expects annual revenue of about PLN 220,000, and costs (rent, materials, equipment) at the level of PLN 110,000. Since sales fit within the PLN 240,000 limit, she chooses VAT exemption at the start. With such high costs, comparing the 8.5% ryczałt with the flat tax (podatek liniowy) requires a detailed calculation that takes the health contribution into account — the difference can reach several thousand zloty per year. The cash register is fiscalised a week before opening and the hygiene procedures are sent to the Sanitary Inspection for an opinion.
How Good Balance can help
We set up companies for salon owners — from the choice of form and PKD codes to registration. As part of the company registration service we prepare documents for a sp. z o.o., and for sole proprietorships we help under the sole proprietorship registration service. We also compare the forms of taxation on the basis of your planned revenue and costs.