What is KRS? Poland's company register, explained

KRS (Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy, the National Court Register) is Poland’s official register of companies, foundations and associations, kept by the courts. Every sp. z o.o. (a limited liability company) is in it, with a 10-digit KRS number, and anyone can look it up and download an extract for free. Sole traders are not in KRS: a JDG (jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza, a sole trader’s business) is registered in CEIDG instead.

Who is in KRS, and who is not

KRS is run by the commercial departments of the district courts, each acting as a sąd rejestrowy (registry court). By law it has three parts:

• The register of entrepreneurs (rejestr przedsiębiorców): every sp. z o.o. and joint-stock company, the simple joint-stock company (P.S.A.), partnerships (spółka jawna, partnerska, komandytowa, komandytowo-akcyjna), cooperatives, state enterprises and Polish branches of foreign companies.
• The register of associations, foundations and similar bodies, including independent public healthcare units.
• The register of insolvent debtors.

If you work as a sole trader, you are in none of these. Your business is in CEIDG, the free public register of sole traders; see what CEIDG is.

The difference shows in how you register. A company registers in KRS through a court, so it pays court fees and waits for a court decision. A JDG registers online in CEIDG for free.

For foreigners: you do not need a PESEL (the Polish personal ID number) to be a shareholder or board member. For someone who has no PESEL and is not required to have one, KRS records the name and date of birth instead.

The KRS number and where to find it

When a company is entered, it gets a KRS number: 10 digits, usually shown with leading zeros, for example 0000019193.

A company has three numbers, and each does a different job:

The law requires every sp. z o.o. to print its registry court and KRS number on its letters, order forms and website. The same place must show its name, seat and address, NIP and share capital.

So the quickest place to find a company’s KRS number is its letterhead or website, and often the bottom of its invoices. More on the other numbers in NIP, REGON and PESEL.

How to search KRS and download a free extract

The Ministry of Justice runs a free public search at wyszukiwarka-krs.ms.gov.pl. You do not need an account.

1. Open the KRS search (Wyszukiwarka KRS). Companies are in the register of entrepreneurs; foundations and associations are in the other register.
2. Enter the KRS number, or another detail the form accepts, and search.
3. Download the extract you need:
   • the current extract (odpis aktualny): what is true today;
   • the full extract (odpis pełny): every entry since registration, including past board members and old addresses.

A printout you download yourself has the same legal force as an extract issued by the court’s Central Information office (Centralna Informacja KRS). Banks, notaries and offices that ask for “a KRS extract” should accept it.

What an extract tells you

For an sp. z o.o., the extract is split into numbered sections:

Section 4 lists two kinds of debt, and only when the entry is for at least 2,000 PLN:

• tax and ZUS (social insurance) debts still unpaid 60 days after enforcement began;
• debts a creditor with an enforceable court title was not paid within 30 days of demanding them.

Tip: before you sign a bigger contract with a Polish company, download its current extract. Check that the person signing is on the board (section 2), that recent financial statements are filed (section 3), and that section 4 is empty.

The statements themselves are in a separate free browser, the Financial Documents Repository (Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych, RDF), at rdf-przegladarka.ms.gov.pl. Anyone may search it by the company’s KRS number, without an account, and download what the company has filed.

What a company must file with KRS

Two kinds of filing matter to a small company owner. Both are online only, through the Court Registers Portal (Portal Rejestrów Sądowych, prs.ms.gov.pl).

Changes: within 7 days

A new board member, a new address, changed articles of association or a new share capital must be reported within 7 days of the change.

Since 29 November 2025, KRS entries are no longer announced in the court gazette (MSiG, Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy), so the extra 100 PLN announcement fee is gone.

Financial statements: every year

Every sp. z o.o. keeps full books, however small it is, and files its financial statements (sprawozdanie finansowe) with KRS each year. For a company whose financial year is the calendar year:

None of these dates falls on a weekend in 2026. The same dates in 2027, for the 2026 statements, are weekdays too.

The filing is free when it is signed electronically by one of these people:

• someone entitled to represent the company (a board member, a prokurent or a liquidator) whose PESEL is shown in KRS;
• an advocate or legal adviser (adwokat, radca prawny) acting for the company.

KRS passes the statements on to the tax administration, so you do not send a separate copy to the tax office. The CIT (corporate income tax) return still goes to the tax office.

Watch out: if no board member or proxy has a PESEL in KRS, you cannot file for free yourself. Either an adwokat or radca prawny files for the company, or you file on form KRS-Z30 for a 40 PLN court fee. biznes.gov.pl still shows 140 PLN (the old total with the MSiG fee), so check the amount the portal asks for.

If the statements are not filed

Not filing is an offence: the person responsible can be fined or sentenced to restriction of liberty. If statements are missing for 2 financial years in a row despite a summons, the court starts proceedings to dissolve the company without liquidation. It dissolves the company if it has no assets and no real activity.

Your accountant prepares the statements, but only from the documents you give them. Komplet, our free Mac app, keeps each month’s invoices and bank statements together and builds a package for your accountant. For the full yearly routine, see our guide to running a sp. z o.o..

KRS, CEIDG and CRBR: three registers, three jobs

New company owners often mix these up, and a company deals with two of them.

CRBR (Centralny Rejestr Beneficjentów Rzeczywistych, at crbr.podatki.gov.pl) is not part of KRS. After a company is entered in KRS, it must report its beneficial owners there within 14 days, not counting Saturdays and public holidays. Changes must be reported within 14 days too. The fine for not reporting can reach 1,000,000 PLN, so do it in the first week.

What to do next

1. If you are choosing a legal form, read JDG or sp. z o.o. and what an sp. z o.o. is.
2. If you already own a company, download its current extract from the KRS search and check that sections 1 and 2 are right. File any change within 7 days.
3. Put 31 March, 30 June and the 15-day filing window in your calendar, and make sure at least one board member with a PESEL can sign in RDF.
4. Check that your beneficial owners are reported in CRBR.