Form SP-3 is one of the most important reports that randomly selected businesses may receive. Although it is not compulsory for everyone, receiving it means you have to prepare carefully to fill it in and submit it on time via the GUS (Statistics Poland) Reporting Portal (raport.stat.gov.pl). The report on the business activity of enterprises (Sprawozdanie o działalności gospodarczej przedsiębiorstw) requires gathering a wide range of accounting documents and preparing detailed financial data for the whole previous calendar year.
Business owners are often unaware of the range of information they have to include in form SP-3, or of the consequences of not filling it in or filling it in incorrectly. Preparing for this report can be time-consuming, especially when the business does not keep systematic records of all the required areas of activity.
Form SP-3 is not compulsory for all businesses. It is completed by enterprises with up to 9 working persons drawn for the sample (about 4%), which GUS notifies. The deadline for the report for 2025 was 17 March 2026, and for 2026 it is 17 March 2027 (programme of statistical surveys for 2026, Journal of Laws (Dz.U.) 2025 item 1842)
The complexity of form SP-3 reflects its purpose: it is used to collect detailed statistical data on the business activity of Polish enterprises. Statistics Poland (Główny Urząd Statystyczny, GUS) uses this information to produce economic analyses, industry reports and economic forecasts at national and regional level.
Structure and content of form SP-3
Form SP-3 (the version for 2025) consists of sections numbered 0 to 7, each requiring the relevant source documents and an analysis of accounting data. Section 0 covers basic information about the enterprise, where you state, among other things, since when the business has been running, for how many months of the reporting year it operated and what its main type of activity is.
The next part of the report is Section 1 working persons and wages, where you give the number of working persons as at 31 December, average employment under employment contracts in full-time equivalents and the amount of gross wages paid. This part of the form can be difficult because it requires converting working time into full-time equivalents and distinguishing between groups of working persons.
The section on working persons covers not only employees under an employment contract but also owners, helping family members and partners working without an employment contract. People working under a contract of mandate (umowa zlecenia) are not included in the number of working persons, and the amount of wages relates to those employed under an employment contract
Section 2 concerns fixed assets and intangible assets – the gross value of fixed assets at the end of the year, expenditure on new fixed assets, improvements to existing ones and purchases of used ones, and the sources of financing for this expenditure. This part of the report requires a careful analysis of the fixed asset register and of all transactions relating to their acquisition, modernisation or sale during the reporting period.
Section 3 is the value of stocks as at 1 January and as at 31 December of the reporting year. Stocks include materials, semi-finished products and work in progress, finished products, goods and advances on deliveries.
Section 4 is the profit and loss account for the year: revenue, operating costs, other and financial revenue and costs, the result and income tax. Entities keeping accounting books fill in all rows, while others (for example those keeping the KPiR, the tax revenue and expense ledger) fill in only the rows for revenue, costs and income tax; the form has no separate section on VAT.
The final sections are specialist information (Section 5 – among others trade, catering, passenger transport, healthcare), the survey of newly established enterprises (Section 6) and entities with foreign capital (Section 7). You fill them in only if they apply to your business.
Preparing documents to fill in the form
Preparing to fill in form SP-3 requires systematically gathering and analysing a wide range of accounting and legal documents. The basis is the accounting documents kept by the business, which must cover the entire reporting period and be kept in line with the applicable rules.
You also need the CEIDG entry (Central Register and Information on Economic Activity) and the PKD classification (Polish Classification of Activities), which make it possible to classify the business correctly and determine the scope of information required. These documents must be up to date and reflect the actual nature of the business.
- Gather all accounting documents for the whole reporting year
- Prepare up-to-date registration documents of the business
- Review personnel files and HR documentation
- Compile the fixed asset register together with acquisition documents
- Prepare complete tax documentation for the reporting period
- Prepare stock data as at 1 January and 31 December (physical inventory count, stocktaking, warehouse records)
Preparing data for form SP-3 can be time-consuming, especially in businesses with employees and fixed assets. It is worth starting to gather documents as soon as you receive information from GUS about the obligation, to avoid a last-minute rush before the report deadline
The section on working persons requires an analysis of personnel files and returns filed with the relevant institutions. You need to prepare the number of working persons as at 31 December (split into owners and helping family members, and those employed under an employment contract), average employment in full-time equivalents and the gross wages of those employed under an employment contract.
To fill in the section on fixed assets, you need to analyse the fixed asset register, which should contain all information about the fixed assets held. You also need the purchase invoices documenting the acquisition of new fixed assets and documents on the sale and disposal of fixed assets that have been taken out of use.
Tax documents needed for form SP-3
Form SP-3 has no separate section on taxes – the amount of income tax is one of the rows of the profit and loss account (Section 4), and data from the VAT records are useful for the sales values reported "including VAT" (trade, catering) and for expenditure on fixed assets of taxpayers who do not deduct VAT. Even so, it is worth having the tax documentation for the whole reporting year to hand, as it lets you check that the data are consistent.
VAT returns for the whole year (JPK_V7 files, the VAT return with records) are helpful, covering all settlement periods in the reporting year. These documents should be complete and consistent with the actual business transactions carried out by the enterprise.
| Type of document | Period covered | Source | Specific notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| VAT returns | Whole reporting year | Accounting system/e-Tax Office (e-Urząd Skarbowy) | Checking consistency of revenue |
| PIT returns | Reporting year | HR documentation | Wages under employment contracts (Section 1) |
| VAT sales records | 12 months | Accounting books | Sales "including VAT" (Section 5) |
| VAT purchase records | 12 months | Accounting documents | Expenditure on fixed assets (Section 2) |
| Annual tax return | Reporting year | Annual settlement | Income tax (Section 4) |
The payer's PIT returns (PIT, personal income tax) for people employed under an employment contract are also useful, as they help establish the amount of gross wages shown in Section 1.
VAT sales and purchase records must be kept systematically throughout the reporting year. For form SP-3 they help establish, among other things, the value of sales including VAT and the value of expenditure on fixed assets, so they should be complete and consistent with actual business transactions
VAT sales and purchase records are an important part of the tax documentation useful for the form. These documents must be kept in line with the applicable rules and contain all the information needed to settle VAT correctly.
You also need to prepare the annual tax return and confirmations of tax payments. These documents make it possible to check that tax settlements are correct and that obligations towards the tax office (urząd skarbowy) have been met on time.
Modern accounting software makes obtaining the required tax documents much easier, but it still requires systematic work and a careful analysis of data for the whole reporting year. It is worth using the automatic reporting features available in accounting systems.
Revenue, costs and analysis of business activity
Section 4 – the profit and loss account, that is revenue and costs from all activity for the year – requires a comprehensive analysis of the business's accounts. Entities keeping accounting books fill in all rows, while others (for example those keeping the KPiR) fill in revenue, costs and income tax, estimating them if no records are kept. We have these figures to hand for clients whose accounting books or the KPiR we keep.
The analysis of revenue must cover all forms of business activity carried out by the enterprise, regardless of their nature or frequency. Particular attention should be paid to classifying revenue correctly into the relevant categories and keeping it consistent with the records kept for tax purposes.
- Revenue from the sale of products and goods in core activity
- Revenue from services provided to external entities
- Financial revenue from deposits, loans and other financial instruments
- Other operating revenue (for example from the sale of materials)
- Grants and subsidies received in the reporting period
Revenue and costs in the report should be consistent with the accounting records. The result in the profit and loss account may differ from the income in tax returns, so it is worth being able to explain any differences – otherwise they may reduce the credibility of the report
Operating costs require an equally detailed analysis and systematic approach. They are reported by nature (among others depreciation, consumption of materials and energy, external services, taxes and charges, wages, social insurance, value of goods sold), consistent with the classification used in the accounting books.
Section 3 of the form on the value of stocks requires an analysis of physical inventory counts and warehouse balances. This part of the report must reflect the actual stock held at the beginning and at the end of the reporting period, valued in line with the applicable accounting rules.
A trading business operating for the whole year had to prepare a detailed breakdown of all stock categories for form SP-3. The stocktaking covered goods for resale, office supplies, packaging and spare parts for equipment. Each stock category was valued at acquisition price, and the stocktaking documentation was added to the materials prepared for the report.
Additional requirements for selected industries
Some categories of businesses have to add information to form SP-3 that goes beyond the standard scope of the report (Section 5 "Specialist information"). This applies in particular to trading and catering businesses, passenger carriers and healthcare entities, whose activity has a specific nature.
Trading businesses report, among other things, the value of retail and wholesale sales including VAT, the number of points of sale and the sales area of shops, and the product structure of retail sales. The KPiR or the accounting books, the sales records and reports from cash registers (kasa fiskalna) will be helpful.
Businesses carrying passengers by taxi or by commercial road transport report data on vehicles (number of vehicles and seats as at 31 December), mileage in kilometres and the number of passengers carried. This requires preparing vehicle records, including data from registration certificates, as well as mileage and passenger records (where no records are available, the form allows estimates in the part on taxis).
Entities whose main activity is healthcare answer, among other things, whether they provided services financed by the NFZ (National Health Fund) and whether they were entered in the Register of Entities Performing Medical Activity, and individual medical practices also report the number of consultations given
Catering businesses report the value of sales revenue including VAT (split, among others, into catering production, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, and goods for resale) and the number of catering outlets by type.
Medical entities should prepare their contracts with the NFZ, data from the Register of Entities Performing Medical Activity and records of consultations given, if they run an individual medical practice.
Some businesses also have to add to form SP-3 information related to the year in which they started operating. Newly established enterprises (in the form for 2025 – those set up in 2021–2024) fill in Section 6 with data on starting the business and its first years of operation, and entities with foreign capital fill in Section 7.
Legal consequences and penalties for irregularities
The law provides for penalties for not submitting the SP-3 report or submitting it after the deadline. The sanction is a fine – for refusing to fulfil the statistical obligation (Article 57 of the Public Statistics Act) and for submitting data after the deadline, imposed under the rules on petty offences (Articles 58–59). Its amount can be painful for a business, especially for firms with lower turnover.
Much more serious consequences apply to submitting data inconsistent with the facts in form SP-3. In such cases the business owner faces a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment of up to 2 years, and in less serious cases a fine (Article 56 of the Public Statistics Act, Dz.U. 2026 item 851). Such a case can also do lasting damage to a business's reputation.
Penalties for irregularities in form SP-3 can be very painful financially and legally. Business owners should fill in this report with the utmost care, involving accounting or legal specialists where necessary
The amount and severity of the penalties show how much importance the law attaches to submitting statistical reports correctly and on time. Data collected through form SP-3 serve not only statistical purposes but are also used in economic planning at national level.
To avoid negative legal consequences, business owners should prepare well to fill in the report. This means not only gathering the right documents but also carefully checking all data entered and meeting the deadlines for submitting the form.
The workload involved in filling in form SP-3 comes from the need to prepare and analyse a number of documents covering practically every aspect of the business. Because the report is so comprehensive, business owners have to devote considerable time and resources to filling in all the required sections correctly.
Practical tips for filling in the form
Filling in form SP-3 effectively requires a systematic approach and good time planning. The first step should be to read carefully the explanatory notes to the form, which are attached to the report and contain detailed guidance on the individual sections.
It is worth starting with the section on basic information about the enterprise, which is relatively simple but requires accuracy in giving the business's identification data. Errors in this part may cause problems with identifying the report in the GUS system.
The next step should be the section on working persons, which requires a detailed analysis of HR documentation. You need to separate owners and helping family members from those employed under an employment contract (people on contracts of mandate are not counted as working persons) and carefully calculate full-time equivalents and wages paid.
When filling in form SP-3, it is worth getting help from experienced accountants or reporting specialists. Their knowledge and experience can make the process much easier and reduce the risk of errors that may lead to legal sanctions
The section on fixed assets requires particular care when calculating values and classifying individual assets. You should carefully check that the data match the fixed asset register and make sure that all acquisitions, sales and disposals have been correctly included.
Before filling in the profit and loss account (including the income tax row), you should carefully check consistency with the tax documentation filed with the tax office. Any discrepancies may lead to additional questions from GUS and potential problems with the tax authorities.
