Poland Business Registry Search: How to Look Up a Company by NIP
Before you sign a contract with a Polish company, paste its NIP into the three free government registries described below. You will get the company's legal name, who sits on the board, whether it is actually VAT-registered, and which bank accounts the tax office has verified. The whole process takes two minutes, no login required.
What a NIP Is
NIP (Numer Identyfikacji Podatkowej) is Poland's 10-digit tax identification number [1]. The tax office assigns one to every entity with tax obligations: companies, sole traders, foundations, and foreign entities operating in Poland. It is the Polish equivalent of a TIN. When international forms ask for a "foreign TIN" or "foreign tax ID number" for Poland, this is the number.
For EU cross-border invoicing, Polish businesses prefix their NIP with "PL" to form a VAT ID. A company with NIP 5272830422 appears on intra-community invoices as PL5272830422. That prefixed version is what you enter into VIES, the EU's VAT verification system [3].
You will see "Poland VAT number," "Polish tax ID," "NIP number," and "VAT ID Poland" used interchangeably online. They all mean the same 10-digit number.
Before searching any registry, paste the NIP into our NIP Checker to validate the checksum. A single transposed digit will send you chasing a nonexistent company.
The Three Registries
Poland does not have one unified business registry. It splits registrations across two systems by legal form, and adds a third focused on VAT status. Here is what each one covers.
CEIDG: Sole Traders
CEIDG (Centralna Ewidencja i Informacja o Działalności Gospodarczej) is the registry for sole proprietorships [4]. Freelancers, one-person consulting shops, anyone running a business under their own name. If the person you are paying issues an invoice with just a NIP and a personal name, they are almost certainly in CEIDG.
Search at biznes.gov.pl/en. Enter the NIP and you get the owner's name, business name, address, activity start date, PKD codes (business activity classification aligned with the EU's NACE system [5]), and status: active, suspended, or closed.
One detail worth knowing: a sole trader's NIP belongs to the person, not the business. If they close one activity and start another, the NIP carries over.
KRS: Companies, Foundations, Associations
KRS (Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy) is the court registry for entities with legal personality [6]. This means sp. z o.o. (limited liability), S.A. (joint-stock), foundations, associations, and cooperatives. If the entity is not a sole trader, it is in KRS.
Search at ekrs.ms.gov.pl. A NIP search returns the KRS number, full legal name, registered address, management board members, share capital, and registration date. Filed financial statements are also available and free to download.
KRS is the most detailed of the three registries. Board member data is what you want when you need to confirm who has signing authority before wiring money. The financial statements are in Polish and follow Polish accounting standards, but the numbers are numbers.
If you need a formal extract for a court filing or notarized transaction, download an odpis pełny (full extract) from the same site. It is free and carries the same legal weight as a paper copy [6].
Biała Lista: VAT Taxpayer White List
The biała lista (biała lista podatników VAT) at wykaz.podatki.gov.pl confirms whether a business is actively VAT-registered and lists its tax-authority-verified bank accounts [7].
This is the registry that matters most for payments. Polish tax law requires that B2B payments exceeding 15,000 PLN go to an account listed on the biała lista. Pay to an unlisted account and the expense may become non-deductible [2]. So before you transfer 18,700 PLN to a new supplier, check here first. Match the bank account on their invoice against the white list. If it is not there, ask them to update it or pay to one that is.
The other thing the biała lista catches: a NIP alone does not prove active VAT status. The business might be exempt, deregistered, or never VAT-registered at all. This registry gives you a definitive answer.
Which Registry to Use When
If you are verifying a new business partner and have their NIP, the fastest approach is to run all three. Start with the biała lista for VAT status and bank account verification. Then check CEIDG or KRS depending on whether you are dealing with a sole trader or a company. The overlap between registries is intentional: each one answers a different question.
If you only have time for one check, make it the biała lista. VAT status and bank account verification are the two things most likely to cost you money if wrong.
Verifying a VAT Number for EU Transactions
For cross-border B2B supplies within the EU, confirming NIP is not enough. You need to verify the PL-prefixed VAT ID through VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) at ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies [3]. VIES confirms whether the number is currently registered for intra-community trade, which is what you need to zero-rate the supply.
Our NIP Checker validates structural correctness (checksum, digit count). VIES confirms live registration with the tax authority. They catch different problems: use both.
Other Identifiers in Registry Results
A registry search will surface several numbers beyond NIP.
REGON (Rejestr Gospodarki Narodowej) is a 9-digit statistical ID assigned by GUS, the Central Statistical Office [8] [9]. Every registered entity has one. It is used for statistical classification, not tax. You will see it alongside NIP in most results but rarely need it yourself.
KRS number is a 10-digit court registry identifier. Only entities registered in KRS have one. Sole traders do not. If someone gives you a KRS number instead of a NIP, search it at ekrs.ms.gov.pl. The NIP will appear in the results.
PKD codes describe registered business activities, following the Polish classification aligned with EU NACE [5]. A company can have many. The primary one is labeled przeważająca działalność.
Practical Notes
Polish companies have two names. The full legal name (firma) appears in KRS, and the abbreviated trade name (nazwa skrócona) may be completely different. Always search by NIP, not by name.
The address in KRS is the registered office (siedziba), which is often a legal address at an accountant's office or a virtual office service. It is not necessarily where the company operates.
CEIDG entries show the owner's personal information because a sole trader and the person behind it are legally identical. This is normal.
Common Questions
Is there a fee to search the Polish business registries?
No. CEIDG, KRS, and the biała lista are all free, with no account or login required.
Can I search these registries from outside Poland?
Yes. All three are publicly accessible from any country.
A company gave me a REGON instead of a NIP. Can I still look them up?
Yes. Both CEIDG and KRS accept REGON as a search input. You can find the NIP from there.
The biała lista shows a company as "not registered" for VAT. Does that mean it is fake?
Not necessarily. Some businesses are VAT-exempt due to low revenue or the nature of their activity. It means they cannot charge you VAT and you cannot deduct VAT from their invoices.
References
- What Is a NIP — Official Government Guide (English) — biznes.gov.pl
- Biała Lista Podatników VAT — Official Government Guide — biznes.gov.pl
- Check a VAT Number (VIES) — Your Europe — europa.eu
- CEIDG — Business Registration and Search Portal (English) — biznes.gov.pl
- Polish Classification of Activities (PKD) Based on NACE — Statistics Poland — stat.gov.pl
- Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy — Free Access to KRS Extracts — gov.pl
- VAT Taxpayer White List — Search Tool — podatki.gov.pl
- REGON Identification Number — Definition — stat.gov.pl
- National Official Business Register (REGON) — Statistics Poland — bip.stat.gov.pl