BDO annual fee

The BDO annual fee is one of those obligations that entrepreneurs most often confuse with the registration itself. In practice, it looks like a company obtains a BDO number and assumes that, since it is already enrolled, it has the financial topic closed or, on the contrary, that everyone enrolled has to pay every year. Both assumptions may be wrong. BDO's official information clearly shows that the annual fee applies only to certain groups of entrepreneurs and not to all entities listed in the register. Its amount depends on the status of the entrepreneur and is currently as follows PLN 200 for a micro-entrepreneur and PLN 800 for other entrepreneurs. Importantly, the annual fee is not an add-on „technically related to the system”, but a real public law obligation, the ignoring of which can lead to very serious consequences, including removal from the BDO register.

Who has to pay the BDO annual fee?

This is the most important question from a practice perspective. Only certain groups of entrepreneurs identified by BDO are subject to the annual fee. These include: producers of electrical and electronic equipment and authorised representatives, introducer of batteries or accumulators, vehicle introducer, producers, importers and intra-Community purchasers of packaging, introducers of packaged products, entering tyres and introducing lubricating oils. This means that the mere fact of having a BDO number does not yet determine the obligation to pay the annual fee. In practice, entrepreneurs most often confuse the „waste” entry with the fee entry, while the annual fee applies primarily to certain categories of product and introduction activities. Therefore, it is first necessary to establish the basis for entry in the register and only then to assess whether the company actually belongs to the groups obliged to pay the fee.

How much is the annual fee and by when must it be paid?

The current rates effective from 1 January 2025 are as follows. PLN 200 for micro-entrepreneurs i PLN 800 for entrepreneurs other than micro-entrepreneurs. Official BDO sources stress that these are the rates for both the registration fee and the annual fee. The deadline for the annual fee itself is fixed: it has to be paid by the end of February for the year in question. This is very important, as many entrepreneurs mistakenly associate this fee with the date of entry or the date of submission of the report. Meanwhile, here we have a separate obligation, functioning independently of the annual reporting to BDO. In practice, this means that the company should treat the annual fee as a separate item on its compliance calendar - alongside reports, KOBiZE or environmental fees.

When does the annual fee not have to be paid and what mistakes do companies make most often?

The most important exception is simple: the annual fee shall not be paid in the year in which the registration fee is paid. This means that an entrepreneur who has only registered in a given year and paid the registration fee no longer pays an additional annual fee for the same year. Another important element concerns the registration fee itself: BDO indicates that it is not paid by an entrepreneur registered in the system EMAS, but this does not automatically change all other register obligations. In practice, the most common mistake entrepreneurs make is treating the annual fee as an „automatic BDO contribution” and not checking whether they actually belong to the mandatory groups. The second common problem is simply missing the deadline by the end of February. And this can already have serious consequences, as official BDO materials explicitly warn that failure to pay can result in a deletion of the entity from the register.

Frequently asked questions

If you want to check whether your company is indeed subject to the BDO annual fee and whether the obligation has been correctly recognised, Ekopro Group provides assistance. On a day-to-day basis, we support entrepreneurs in topics related to BDO, registration and annual fees, records, reporting and ongoing handling of environmental obligations. Feel free to contact us We will help you determine whether the fee applies to your company, where to pay it and how to avoid mistakes that can lead to problems with the register.