New PKD codes – changes in 2025

On January 1, 2025, changes to PKD codes came into effect

From the new year, a new Polish Classification of Activities (PKD) has been introduced. The changes in national regulations concerning codes used in statistics, accounting, and public registers were driven by the need to adjust the classification to the changing reality and current international and European standards. This primarily concerns the harmonization of economic statistics within the European Union. The updates in PKD are an important event for Polish entrepreneurship at the beginning of 2025. The changes raise some practical doubts among entrepreneurs, who ask themselves when and how they should adapt to the new classification. In this article, we will try to explain the most important issues related to the changes in PKD regulations.

First, it should be emphasized that the old PKD classification will still apply for two more years, i.e., until December 31, 2026. This will be a so-called transitional period, during which some entrepreneurs will use old codes, and some will use new ones. Therefore, there is no sudden revolution; changes will happen gradually. However, new PKD codes must be used by entrepreneurs who start their business in 2025. The changed codes will be used in the CEIDG, KRS, and REGON registers. Other entrepreneurs who operated their businesses before January 1, 2025, have two years to adapt to the new requirements.

During the transitional period, all entities registered in KRS that submit an application to change their business scope in this period will have to use the new PKD codes. This rule results from § 2, section 3 of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers dated December 18, 2024, on the Polish Classification of Activities (PKD). For entrepreneurs registered in CEIDG, the situation seems a bit less clear. In this case, the regulations use the phrase “application for change of entry.” It seems that, in practice, every application for a change of entry, regardless of whether it concerns the business scope, will trigger the obligation to use new PKD codes.

The Regulation of the Council of Ministers of December 18, 2024, also regulates issues concerning applications for changes in the register submitted in 2024 but processed or decided upon in the new year. Again, the regulations distinguish between entrepreneurs registered in KRS and those in CEIDG. For entities registered in KRS, the new PKD codes will apply to proceedings for entry or change of entry regarding the business scope initiated and not completed before the Regulation’s entry into force. However, for entrepreneurs registered in CEIDG, applications for entry submitted before the Regulation comes into effect will still be subject to the old PKD codes.

At this point, it is worth answering what happens if, during the transitional period, a KRS-registered entrepreneur does not change the business scope in the register, or a CEIDG-registered entrepreneur simply does not submit an application for change in the register. In such a case, entrepreneurs will not have to independently adjust their PKD codes. These entities will automatically receive a newly generated code based on the old one. This solution raises some doubts among many experts and lawyers regarding its accuracy and reliability. Therefore, many voices suggest that the safest solution will be to independently match PKD codes and make changes on their own.