Flights Wroclaw – Zurich – opening of direct flight connections

On Monday, 30th October, the Swiss International Air Lines celebrated the opening of the new flight connection Wroclaw –Zurich.

The first plane from Zurich was welcomed by a water salute at the Wroclaw airport. After the landing a press conference was held with i.a. the Ambassador of Switzerland to Poland Mr Andrej Motyl.

The celebration continued in the evening at a gala dinner in Topacz Castle organized together by the Swiss International Air Lines, Wroclaw Airport and the Polish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce.

The direct flight connection between Wroclaw and Zurich responds to the needs of Swiss companies operating in the region. In 2015 the Chamber conducted a survey among companies in order to evaluate the companies’ interest in the Wroclaw-Zurich flights. The results of the survey contributed to a great extent to the opening of the new connection.

Since 30th October the Swiss International Air Lines operates flights between Wroclaw and Zurich three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays).

BALAJCZA and their Fanletters – 7 years already!

We are pleased to announce that BALAJCZA has been preparing and sending out its Fanletters continuously since September 2010.

Our Fanletters have an innovative form and are addressed mainly to BALAJCZA’s customers and translators, but also to anyone interested in the world of foreign languages, cultural differences and travel.

Every week we send out a new Fanletter. It contains a wide range of information connected with languages, English and French idioms, interesting facts from all over the world, and amusing pictures concerning languages or a translator’s work.
Additionally, we present the most interesting events of the week taking place in our office.

You are most warmly welcome to sign up for our Fanletter 🙂 If you are interested, please contact us at: timea.balajcza@balajcza.pl

balajcza@balajcza.pl

Poland: New obligations (CRS) for clients of Polish financial institutions

In an effort to prevent tax evasion and protect the integrity of tax systems, governments around the world are introducing a new reporting and information-gathering requirement for financial institutions. The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) has been designed by the OECD for the purpose of establishing the tax residency of financial institutions’ customers. These regulations were implemented in Poland by the Act of 9 March 2017 on Exchange of Tax Information with Other Countries (CRS Act).

Under the CRS Act, Polish financial institutions are required to implement due diligence and reporting procedures to identify reportable accounts and report them to Chief of the National Tax and Customs Administration. The Act also requires them to identify customers who are non-Polish tax residents and report certain information to Polish tax authorities, which may then be shared with the tax authorities where the customers are tax residents.

Additionally, clients are required to declare their countries of tax residency to Polish financial institutions and any data related to tax residency status must be updated by clients within 30 days of a change occurring.  For accounts opened in 2016, the deadline for finalizing the identification procedure is 31 July 2017. Required data must be reported by 31 August 2017.

Clients subject to the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) must provide additional information for the CRS as these are different regulations with different requirements.

Next steps:

To comply with the CRS Act and provide the financial institutions with the required data, individuals  should undertake the following activities:
•    Establish their tax residency status based on internal law and double tax treaties
•    Complete the forms and declarations required by the financial institutions
•    Where necessary, provide the financial institution with a certificate of tax residency
EY tax advisors are able to provide individuals with assistance related to the CRS Act. If you have any questions or wish to discuss how this legislation may impact your organization, please contact your EY advisor.

Contacts:

Katarzyna Tomalak – Director
Tel.: +48 71  375 10 74
Email: Katarzyna.Tomalak@pl.ey.com

Eliza Skotnicka – Senior Manager
Tel.: +48 22 557 75 03
Email: Eliza.Skotnicka@pl.ey.com

Marta Dominiak-Sporna – Manager
Tel.: +48 61 856 29 28
Email: Marta.Dominiak-Sporna@pl.ey.com

Research swissstandards.pl

We encourage you to read the summary of the results of the survey “swissstandards.pl”.

The survey was conducted among ca. 1300 clients of Franke, Stämpfli and Zehnder.

The aim of the research was to examine clients’ opinion on the cooperation with beneficiaries of the trademark swissstandards.pl as well as their expectations towards Swiss companies.

The results show that 58% of respondents believe that the Swiss origin significantly contributes to the positive perception of a company. 61%  have greater expectations towards Swiss companies than those of different origin. Whereas 75% of respondents claim that Franke, Stämpfli and Zehnder fulfil these expectations. More results are available in the presentation below.

The research was also an opportunity to support the Omnibus Foundation which helps talented children from poor families. For each completed survey we donated 5 PLN to the foundation. In the end, we were able to finance a scholarship for a gifted pupil.

BALAJCZA translates directly from Ukrainian to German

We are happy to inform you that BALAJCZA recently prepared a translation in Poland in a rare language combination – from Ukrainian to German. As you know, we are a translation agency which provides translation services in all languages of the world and in all language combinations. This means there are no linguistic challenges that we find impossible.

The translation pertained to a complicated contract and required an awareness of  legal language and judicial law from the translator.

In this particular situation, the text was first translated from Ukrainian to Polish, and then from Polish to German.. While not an ideal solution,  Balajcza has a very large network of translators-native speakers who reside outside Poland. This time we used the services of our German translator who lives permanently in her homeland.

If you require any translation services, please contact us by e-mail: balajcza@balajcza.pl

BALAJCZA also works with Asian Languages

We are happy to be able to announce that BALAJCZA provides translation services in various Asian languages. Such translations have been part of our services for some time now, but recently we were extremely busy responding to enquiries and handling English/French – Asian languages jobs.

Asian languages which we deal with most often include: Chinese, Korean, Thai, Farsi, Khmer, Burmese, Kazakh, Indonesian, Malay, Filipino, Vietnamese, Lao.

And of course, for such jobs we rely on native speakers of the given languages who live abroad.

If you require language solutions in these or similar languages, please do not hesitate to contact us at the following address: timea.balajcza@balajcza.pl

Special Economic Zones

‘Tax and legal aspects of the functioning of the Special Economic Zones in Poland’ – the latest publication prepared by TAAC Solutions for The Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH).

The publication discusses the following issues:

  1. Permission for conducting business activity in the Special Economic Zone:
    A. submission of the application
    B. tender
    C. tender documentation
    D. choice of offer
    E. issuance of permission
    F. revocation of expiration of the permission
  2. Exemption from taxation:
    A. income tax exemption
    B. property tax exemption

Here you can find the publication.

New Billennium offices

“Opening a new seat is an event of great importance. The office space we got designed meets our employees’ needs and requirements. This place is creative, user-friendly and helps its users come up with new ideas. Any guests are welcome here. We exist to cross boundaries and create innovative solutions – as we want our contractors and guests feel this vibe in our offices, our working spaces provide pristine conditions supporting creative thinking, the creation process, and looking at different aspects from various perspectives” – says Bartosz Łopiński, CEO of Billennium.

“Our staff is the driving force behind our offices. For this reason, communication is of utmost importance in our employees’ independence. Our philosophy is founded on integrity, cooperation, and fun. It is also of considerable significance for us to make our offices environmentally friendly and harmonious with nature and the environment. Due to this, we prioritize daylight, grow plants, and make sure that fresh air circulates properly. The greenery not only helps your eyes relax and produces oxygen but it also purifies and ionizes the air as well as adds moisture to indoor air. Moreover, all our offices in the world are designed in the same manner – common brand identity not only allows us to be distinguished but it also ensures uniformity in all aspects, including our work” – adds Bartosz Łopiński.

In Warsaw, nearly 100 employees started working in the new office, which has two spacious floors, including a large dining room, a common area with hammocks, terraces and a cinema.
Since 2011, Billennium has been running its business in Lublin, where its headcount is currently 220.

“We find Lublin particularly attractive. It is a city with which we have established a special relationship. We chose Lublin to open our largest subsidiary, which we are continuously developing. We intend to employ another one hundred members of staff by late 2017. We are proud of what we do and where we do it.” – says Marek Drob, Service Delivery Director, Billennium Lublin.

Watch the video from opening of Billennium Lublin new office:
www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=C4Glm33bpzs

BALAJCZA is organising a workshop on China

We are pleased to inform you that last week we have organised a workshop entitled “HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH A CHINESE COUNTERPARTY – WHEN YOU DON’T SPEAK CHINESE” for one of our regular customers.

It was a tailored service – we accommodated our Customer’s specific requirement and somewhat stepped outside the confines of our everyday activity, although it was not the first time we have had the pleasure of participating in such a project. In the past we have had the opportunity to organise events such as this one, to focus on cultural differences between Europeans, Asians and Americans.

The programme of the workshop includes:

  • An integrational quiz on China
  • Role of symbols, colours, superstitions in contemporary China
  • The world through the eyes of a Chinese
  • “Only dogs do not carry business cards”
  • Solving Chinese puzzles: a first name or a surname, a woman or a man
  • Welcome ceremony: what do I do when they are applauding me and when a smile does not mean happiness
  • “I received a bouquet of red roses – this is the end” – recommended and inadvisable gifts

 and many other topics of specific interest.

In the case of any questions and interest in this subject and this type of workshop, please contact us at the following address: timea.balajcza@balajcza.pl