Can you sell abroad without knowing the local law and tax system?
Lack of knowledge of the legal rules applicable abroad is one of the strongest barriers to the internationalization of sales, especially among micro- and small enterprises that dominate in Poland (over 90% of all Polish companies employ fewer than 50 employees). Hiring a Polish or, horror of horrors, a foreign law firm and an accounting office for this purpose, which would “handle” the issue for us, involves significant costs, which also discourages expansion.
In the context of online stores, the key issues are respecting both local consumer law and taxation in the country of purchase, because e-commerce customers are most often individual consumers. Please remember that paying VAT in the buyer’s country is not possible without first registering as a taxpayer in a given country. Well, unless it does not exceed the sales limits applicable in a given country – different in each country and subject to regular changes. In a word, chaos that is difficult to deal with on your own.
Another problem is the shortage of Polish tax offices and law firms that specialize in foreign markets and/or language barriers in contacts with their foreign counterparts.
How to deal with this?
MarketAdd provides comprehensive services in the field of legal and tax issues, as well as those related to the registration of an entity as a taxpayer in a given EU/EEA country. As part of cooperation with MarketAdd, Polish e-commerce companies that want to start selling abroad are provided with the necessary legal documentation to conduct business abroad in the language of the target country and in accordance with local law (including store regulations, privacy policy, returns policy and others). They are also provided with ongoing legal services. MarketAdd also undertakes business registration obligations in a given country. We assume that our clients must be good at what they do, i.e. running their business, and we are there to eliminate barriers related to foreign sales of their products in Europe. This is in line with our philosophy based on the Win-Win principle – both parties benefit from such cooperation. See how it works in the Project tab.
