Poland

An individual is a Polish tax resident if they have their centre of personal or business interests in Poland, or spend more than 183 days in a fiscal year in Poland.

The tax year is the calendar year, and individuals must submit their annual return by 30 April of the following year, separately from the single annual summary return their employer files on withholding already made. Married Polish tax residents may elect joint filing under certain conditions, and non-resident spouses may also elect it if they hold an EU/EEA/Swiss tax residency certificate and derive at least 75% of their joint worldwide income in Poland.

Non-residents are subject to Polish tax on their Polish-source income only. Certain listed income categories earned by non-residents, including intellectual-property revenue, technology-transfer income, equipment-leasing fees, and personal/artistic/scientific service income, are taxed at a flat 20% rate on revenue with no cost deductions, unless a tax treaty provides otherwise; other Polish-source income follows the general rules.

Employees receive a standard monthly cost deduction (generally PLN 250, or PLN 300 for commuters), capped annually depending on the number of contracts and commuting status, while independent contractors may deduct a flat 20% of revenue, or 50% for certain creative and copyright-based activities, capped at PLN 120,000 per year. Further deductible items include mandatory social security contributions, charitable donations up to 6% of income, disability-related rehabilitation expenses, and home thermo-modernisation costs up to PLN 53,000.

Sole traders and partners in partnerships may elect a flat 19% income tax rate, lump-sum taxation, or, if already using it since 2021, the legacy 'tax card' method, instead of the progressive scale. Certain regulated professionals, such as in medicine, architecture, engineering, or design, pay a reduced 14% flat rate, and specified IT services are taxed at 12%, each subject to conditions.

A taxpayer may use the subjective VAT exemption for 2026 while their sales value does not exceed PLN 240,000. The threshold is assessed against turnover for the current tax year and, for an ongoing business, against the preceding tax year.

VAT-exempt supplies include certain financial, insurance, and educational services. Zero-rated activities include exports of goods to countries outside the European Union.

Poland generally exempts gains on the sale of real property held outside business activity once the sale takes place more than five years after the end of the tax year of acquisition; some residential real estate disposals can also be exempt in certain cases. This holding-period exemption does not extend to Poland's separate flat 19% tax on the transfer of shares, which carries no exemption of its own.

Exchanging one virtual currency for another is not treated as a taxable disposal under Poland's cryptocurrency tax rules. Only converting virtual currency into legal tender, using it to pay for goods, services, or a property right other than virtual currency, or using it to settle other obligations, counts as a taxable disposal.