[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"advice-en-nierejestrowana-tax-control":3},{"slug":4,"title":5,"excerpt":6,"body":7,"datePublished":8,"dateModified":8},"nierejestrowana-tax-control","Unregistered business activity and a tax office inspection","Can the tax office inspect a person without a company? We explain verification activities, inspection notice, the role of the sales record and PIT-36 correction.","\u003Cp>The lack of a CEIDG entry does not protect against the tax office. A person running unregistered business activity is a PIT taxpayer, and often also a VAT taxpayer benefiting from an exemption, so they are covered by the Tax Ordinance provisions on verification activities and tax inspections. At the same time, they do not have some of the guarantees that the Entrepreneurs' Law gives to companies. Below we explain what such a verification looks like and how to prepare for it.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Three tools of the office\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Ctable>\u003Cthead>\u003Ctr>\u003Cth>Tool\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>What it involves\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>When it appears\u003C\u002Fth>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Fthead>\u003Ctbody>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Verification activities\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>a summons to explanations or documents, checking the timeliness and formal correctness of a return\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>e.g. in case of a discrepancy between PIT-36 and data from a bank or a sales platform\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Tax inspection\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>checking whether the taxpayer meets their tax obligations; usually at their place of residence or at the office\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>when explanations are not enough or the office selects the case for inspection\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Tax proceedings\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>issuing a decision determining the tax\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>after an inspection, if the taxpayer did not correct the irregularities\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Ftbody>\u003C\u002Ftable>\u003Cp>Verification activities may also serve to verify expenses and revenue to the extent necessary to determine whether the inflows have cover in disclosed sources. This is important for people who have not declared income from unregistered business activity for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Notice before an inspection and its exceptions\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Under art. 282b of the Tax Ordinance, the office notifies of its intention to start an inspection. The inspection can start no earlier than 7 days and no later than 30 days from delivery of the notice. The notice includes, among other things, the scope of the inspection, a preliminary list of required documents and instructions on the right to correct the return.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>Art. 282c, however, provides for situations in which no notice is sent. Two of them particularly concern people without a business:\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cul>\u003Cli>the inspection concerns \u003Cstrong>business activity not reported for taxation\u003C\u002Fstrong> — e.g. when revenue has long exceeded the limit and no CEIDG application has been filed,\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>the inspection concerns \u003Cstrong>revenue without cover in disclosed sources\u003C\u002Fstrong> or coming from undisclosed sources.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003Cp>In such cases, inspectors may appear without prior notice, and the window for a calm correction closes.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Guarantees for companies that do not apply here\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>The Entrepreneurs' Law chapter on inspections concerns inspections of entrepreneurs' business activity. It provides, among other things, a time limit on all inspections of a given authority in a year — for a micro-entrepreneur, 6 working days. Since unregistered business activity is, by law, not business activity, and the person conducting it is not an entrepreneur, these limits do not apply to them. The general rules of the Tax Ordinance apply, including the notice under art. 282b.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>The sales record as the main evidence\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>The basic document in case of an inspection is a simplified sales record. Entries are made for each day, at the latest before the first sale on the following day. The record shows two things: that the quarterly revenue limit (PLN 10,813.50 in 2026) was not exceeded and that the VAT exemption was applied correctly.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>The absence of a record has specific consequences. If the value of sales cannot be determined from other documents, the authority determines it by estimation and charges VAT on it; when it is impossible to determine what was being sold, it applies a 22% rate (art. 109(2) of the VAT Act). Similarly for PIT: lack of data allows the office to estimate the tax base (art. 23 of the Tax Ordinance).\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>What to prepare — list of documents\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Col>\u003Cli>Sales record with a running total in each quarter.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>Copies of receipts and invoices issued to clients.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>Proofs of purchases settled as costs on PIT-36, preferably with the buyer's name and surname.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>Bank account statements and summaries from payment or sales platforms.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>Filed PIT-36 returns together with the income calculation.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>Correspondence with clients confirming the dates services were performed — useful in determining in which quarter revenue arose.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Fol>\u003Cp>Tax is subject to a limitation period of 5 years as a rule — this period starts at the end of the year in which the payment deadline expired — so documents should be kept at least for this period.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>When there is an error in the settlements\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>The simplest solution is to correct PIT-36 before any reaction from the office. After delivery of the notice of intention to inspect, correction is still possible until the inspection starts; during the inspection, the right to correct within its scope is suspended. If the understatement of tax could constitute a fiscal offence or misdemeanour, it is worth considering an active regret (czynny żal) — a notification to the prosecuting authority together with payment of the diminished amount (art. 16 of the Fiscal Penal Code). Failure to disclose the subject of taxation or to file a return carries a fine, and in more serious cases also a prison sentence (art. 54 of this Code).\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>A separate situation is exceeding the limit. From the day of exceeding, the activity becomes business activity, and 7 days are given for entry in CEIDG. Those who have not done so should regularise their status as soon as possible, because an inspection of unreported activity may be initiated without notice.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Not only the tax office\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Unregistered business activity may also be checked by other authorities, depending on the industry: Sanepid for food production, the President of UOKiK in consumer rights cases, and the President of UODO (Personal Data Protection Office) in the field of personal data protection. Obligations towards clients, e.g. the right of withdrawal from a distance contract, apply regardless of the lack of a CEIDG entry.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>The basic rules of unregistered business activity are discussed in the article \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fadvice\u002Fwho-is-unregistered-business-activity-for\">Unregistered business activity 2026 — limits, rules and who it is for\u003C\u002Fa>, and the way to obtain a binding position from the tax authority — in the guide \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fadvice\u002Ftax-interpretation-individual\">Individual tax interpretation\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>How Good Balance can help\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>We put sales records and documents in order, prepare corrections to returns and responses to office summonses, and accompany you during inspections as part of \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fservices\u002Flegal\u002Fconsultation\">legal and tax consultations\u003C\u002Fa>. When it turns out that the activity has outgrown the limit, we carry out registration and further handling as part of the \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fservices\u002Flegal\u002Fprivate-entrepreneurship\">sole proprietorship support\u003C\u002Fa> service.\u003C\u002Fp>","2026-10-10"]