A debtor report on a Polish sole trader or partnership tells a foreign buyer or lender whether the counterparty carries active pledges, open insolvency proceedings, or a compromised VAT status — before the transfer of collateral value is agreed. CEIDG, the Central Register of Economic Activity, is the entry point. It links to every public register that matters for collateral assessment. This page describes what each register shows, what it does not, and what a structured report costs.
- What CEIDG shows
- Active or suspended status, registered address, NIP, REGON, and scope of activity for every sole trader in Poland. Source: CEIDG (ceidg.gov.pl) · verified July 2026.
- Cost of access
- Free of charge, no login required. What the report fee covers is the structured path: cross-referencing NIP across pledge, insolvency, and VAT registers, translating results, and delivering a signed factual summary.
- Pledge registers
- Two separate systems must be queried: Rejestr Zastawów (Ministry of Justice) and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (Ministry of Finance). A single-register search is an incomplete collateral check. Source: Centralna Informacja and e-Urząd Skarbowy · verified July 2026.
- Insolvency register
- KRZ (krz.ms.gov.pl) is public and free. It covers proceedings opened after 1 December 2021 only. A clean result does not exclude an earlier insolvency. Source: KRZ · verified July 2026.
- VAT status
- Biała lista (podatki.gov.pl) shows current VAT registration, declared bank accounts, and the reason and date of any deregistration or reinstatement. Verifiable for any past date. Source: Biała lista, KAS · verified July 2026.
What CEIDG establishes — and what it does not
CEIDG records the legal existence and registered parameters of a sole trader: NIP, REGON, registered address, declared activity codes, and current status (active, suspended, or struck off). It is the authoritative identifier. Without it, cross-referencing the pledge and insolvency registers is not possible, because those systems index by NIP or PESEL — not by trading name.
CEIDG does not show pledges, debts, court proceedings, or financial statements. It is an identity register, not a financial register. Collateral assessment requires querying at least four further systems using the NIP extracted from CEIDG.
The two pledge registers — why both are required
Polish law maintains two distinct pledge registries. Rejestr Zastawów, administered by the Ministry of Justice through Centralna Informacja, records civil-law registered pledges (zastaw rejestrowy) over movable assets and receivables. A certificate on a pledgor (DW-1) costs 20 PLN; a certificate on a specific asset (DW-2) costs 20 PLN; a certified extract (DW-4) costs 15 PLN.
Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych, administered by the Ministry of Finance, records tax pledges (zastaw skarbowy) arising automatically when a tax liability exceeds a statutory threshold. The search is free via e-Urząd Skarbowy. A formal certificate (wypis or zaświadczenie) costs 50 PLN.
Neither register is a substitute for the other. A debtor may carry a civil-law pledge in one system and a tax pledge in the other simultaneously. A collateral report that queries only one register is structurally incomplete.
| Register | Administrator | Type of pledge | Search cost | Certificate cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rejestr Zastawów | Ministry of Justice / Centralna Informacja | Civil-law registered pledge (zastaw rejestrowy) | Paid per certificate | DW-1: 20 PLN · DW-2: 20 PLN · DW-4: 15 PLN |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych | Ministry of Finance / e-Urząd Skarbowy | Tax pledge (zastaw skarbowy) | Free | 50 PLN (wypis / zaświadczenie) |
KRZ — insolvency and restructuring proceedings
Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych (KRZ) at krz.ms.gov.pl is the central register for insolvency and restructuring proceedings in Poland. It is public, free of charge, and requires no login. Search is by NIP, PESEL, KRS number, or case signature.
KRZ contains only proceedings opened on or after 1 December 2021. Before that date, insolvency announcements appeared in Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy (MSiG). A clean KRZ result excludes active proceedings from that date forward. It does not exclude proceedings opened before December 2021 that may still affect asset encumbrances.
MSiG (wyszukiwarka-msig.ms.gov.pl) remains searchable and covers announcements from 1996. The archive is free. Documents are published as PDF; no structured machine-readable data is available.
VAT status and declared bank accounts — Biała lista
Biała lista (White List), maintained by the Head of KAS at podatki.gov.pl, shows the current VAT registration status of any Polish taxpayer. It also shows every bank account declared to the tax authority and the reason and date of any deregistration, refusal, or reinstatement.
The register is free and requires no login. Verification is possible for any past date, which allows a buyer to confirm the counterparty's VAT status at the time of a prior transaction. Payment to a bank account not appearing on Biała lista triggers joint and several liability for VAT under Polish tax law. This makes the register directly relevant to collateral value: an encumbered or deregistered counterparty transfers VAT risk to the buyer.
Land register — access path for commercial property
Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste (EKW) at ekw.ms.gov.pl shows mortgages, easements, and encumbrances registered against a specific property. Access is free. The structural constraint is the access path: EKW is searchable only by land register number (numer KW). Search by owner name is not available to private parties.
The KW number must be obtained from the ewidencja gruntów i budynków (land and building register), which requires a separate query. For a foreign buyer without the KW number, the land register is not directly accessible without this prior step. The report covers this path.
Beneficial ownership — CRBR
Centralny Rejestr Beneficjentów Rzeczywistych (CRBR) is open, free of charge, and requires no account. It records the declared ultimate beneficial owners of Polish legal persons subject to the Anti-Money Laundering Act. For sole traders (jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza) registered only in CEIDG, CRBR does not apply — the natural person is the business. For partnerships and companies, CRBR is a required layer of the collateral check.
The limit of what the sources allow
Each register in this path has a defined ceiling. KRZ shows proceedings from December 2021 forward; earlier insolvencies appear only in MSiG, which is a full-text PDF archive without structured extraction. The EKW land register requires the KW number in advance; a buyer without it cannot query the register directly. Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych shows whether a tax pledge exists but does not show the underlying tax liability amount or its status — that requires a separate tax certificate from the relevant tax office. CEIDG shows registered status; it does not show whether the debtor is actually trading or has suspended operations in practice without formal notification.
The ceiling of what the sources allow is stated before payment. Where a register returns no result, the report states which systems were queried, on which date, and under which identifiers. Absence of a result is a finding, not a gap in the report.
- KRZ: proceedings from 01.12.2021 only — earlier insolvency requires MSiG cross-check
- EKW: KW number required — not obtainable by name search by private parties
- Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych: pledge existence confirmed, not the amount of the underlying tax liability
- CEIDG: registered status, not operational reality
- CRBR: applies to legal persons, not to sole traders registered only in CEIDG
Where the sources disagree
Discrepancies arise most commonly between CEIDG registered address and the address declared on Biała lista, or between CRBR beneficial ownership data and the actual shareholding structure shown in KRS documents. A debtor may also appear active in CEIDG while carrying an open restructuring proceeding in KRZ — the two registers update independently and on different schedules. Where the report detects a discrepancy, it is flagged as a finding, not resolved by choosing one source over another.
What is included at each tier
| Tier | Price (EUR, excl. VAT) | Included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €590 | CEIDG status check · KRZ insolvency search · Biała lista VAT and bank account status · Summary of findings in English · Source log with query dates | Pledge register certificates (Rejestr Zastawów / Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych) · Land register (EKW) · CRBR beneficial ownership · MSiG archive search · Financial statements (RDF) |
| Standard | €990 | Everything in Signal · Rejestr Zastawów certificate (DW-1 per pledgor) · Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych certificate · CRBR beneficial ownership layer · MSiG archive cross-check · Annotated discrepancy log | EKW land register (requires KW number — provided separately by client) · Financial statements analysis · Enforcement history · Legal qualification of findings |
| Extended | €2,200 | Everything in Standard · EKW land register (KW number obtained from ewidencja gruntów) · Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych — last three filed statements · CEPiK vehicle check where VIN provided · Full cross-register discrepancy analysis · English-language report with source attachments | Legal advice · Legal qualification of findings · Enforcement action · Representation before any authority |
Register fees (DW-1, DW-2, DW-4, tax pledge certificate) are included in the tier price. No additional disbursements are invoiced unless a non-standard certificate is required and agreed in writing before the order is placed.
Frequently asked questions
Is CEIDG sufficient for a collateral check on a sole trader?
No. CEIDG confirms identity and registered status. Collateral assessment requires querying Rejestr Zastawów, Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych, KRZ, and Biała lista as a minimum. CEIDG provides the NIP needed to run those queries.
What does a clean KRZ result mean?
It means no insolvency or restructuring proceeding is registered in KRZ as of the query date. KRZ covers proceedings opened from 1 December 2021. A clean result does not exclude proceedings opened before that date. MSiG must be checked separately for the earlier period.
Can the land register be queried by the debtor's name?
No. EKW is searchable only by land register number (numer KW). The KW number must be obtained from the ewidencja gruntów i budynków first. The Extended tier covers this path.
Why are there two pledge registers?
Polish law distinguishes civil-law registered pledges (zastaw rejestrowy, recorded in Rejestr Zastawów) from tax pledges arising by operation of law (zastaw skarbowy, recorded in Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych). The two systems are maintained by different ministries and are not cross-linked. Both must be queried for a complete pledge profile.
How long does the report take?
Signal: 3 business days from confirmation of the debtor's NIP and PESEL or KRS number. Standard: 5 business days. Extended: 7–10 business days, depending on ewidencja gruntów response time for the KW number.
What identifiers are required to place an order?
NIP is required for all tiers. PESEL is required for KRZ search on natural persons. For the Extended tier, the property address or parcel number (numer działki) is required to obtain the KW number. VIN is required for the CEPiK vehicle check.
Disclaimer: This report is a factual compilation from official registers and public sources. It is provided for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and contains no legal qualification of the facts established. KORDECKI & Partners assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@kordeckipartners.com.