Determining tax residency, i.e. the place of residence for tax purposes, makes it possible to establish:

• the country where you are required to pay taxes,
• the international double taxation agreement that applies to you.

You may acquire the status of a tax resident in Poland if you are a natural person and:

• have your centre of personal or economic interests (centre of vital interests) in Poland, or
• spend more than 183 days in a fiscal year in Poland.

These rules apply taking into account double taxation agreements.

If you are considered a tax resident in two countries, you are subject to the conflict-of-laws rules set out in the relevant double taxation agreement.

If you have the status of a Polish tax resident, then you should declare all income for tax purposes in Poland, regardless of the country in which that income has been earned. You are then subject to unlimited tax liability.

If you do not have the status of a Polish tax resident (you are a non-resident), you declare only income generated in Poland to the revenue office for tax purposes. You are then subject to limited tax liability.

If you work in Poland but reside in another country, the bilateral double taxation agreement concluded between Poland and this country will determine where you are required to pay taxes. This will allow you to avoid double taxation (in two different countries).

You will pay a tax on income from employment in Poland if:

• you are a Polish tax resident,
• you are a non-resident and work in Poland for a Polish employer,
• you are a non-resident and work in Poland for a foreign employer who has a permanent establishment or a fixed place of business in Poland and bears the costs of your remuneration,
• you are a non-resident and work in Poland for a foreign employer who does not have a permanent establishment or a fixed place of business in Poland and you have spent more than 183 days in total in Poland.

Please note: If you work in Poland and reside in another country, check where you should pay taxes. To that end, read the double taxation agreement concluded between Poland and the country where you reside.

This will allow you to avoid double taxation (in two different countries).

If you reside in another country but work in Poland for a Polish employer, then you declare your income for tax purposes in Poland. As a withholding agent, your employer withholds income tax and pays the amounts withheld to the revenue office every month. After the end of the fiscal year, the withholding agent submits information on revenues from other sources and on income and income tax withheld (PIT-11) to the revenue office. The employer is required to send such information to you as well.

The PIT-11 form contains the information you will need to correctly declare your income to the revenue office for tax purposes. On its basis, you will fill in a tax return for income earned during the fiscal year.

If you reside in another country but work in Poland for a foreign employer who has a permanent establishment or a fixed place of business in Poland, then you declare your income for tax purposes in Poland. As a withholding agent your employer withholds income tax and pays the amounts withheld to the revenue office every month. After the end of the fiscal year, the withholding agent submits information on revenues from other sources and on income and income tax withheld (PIT-11) to the revenue office. The employer is required to send such information to you as well.

The PIT-11 form contains the information you will need to correctly declare your income to the revenue office for tax purposes. On its basis, you will fill in a tax return for income earned during the fiscal year.

If you reside in another country but work in Poland for a foreign employer who does not have a permanent establishment or a fixed place of business in Poland and you have spent more than 183 days in Poland in total*, then you declare your income for tax purposes in Poland. In such a case, you are required to pay the income tax to the revenue office by yourself.

Please note: You pay the first amount of tax when your stay in Poland exceeds 183 days.

When determining the amount of tax, you take into account the income earned since the beginning of the fiscal year, less the social insurance contributions paid, which are tax deductible in Poland. The amount of tax is calculated at the rate of 12% or 32%.

Important: monthly income is the revenue earned in one month, less monthly tax deductible expenses.

You pay the income tax to the revenue office monthly, to an individual tax micro-account. You should do this by the 20th day of the month following the month to which the amount of tax relates, and before the deadline for submitting the annual tax return for December.

Please note: You can check your tax micro-account online by using a generator or receive a generator at any revenue office.

Your revenues from employment and contracts of mandate, the graduate and the student internship are exempt from tax if:

• you have not reached the age of 26, and
• they do not exceed PLN 85 528.

[1] during a fiscal year or each twelve-month period beginning or ending in the fiscal year concerned (in accordance with some double taxation agreements)

If your remuneration is subject to taxation in Poland, then the tax due is calculated according to a tax scale. This means that the amount of tax depends on the amount of income you have earned.

The tax scale applicable in Poland in 2022

Important: when calculating the amount of tax, take into account all the tax relief and deductions to which you are entitled under the legislation in force in Poland.

Please note: If your income from employment, less the social insurance contributions (which are tax deductible in Poland) paid, exceeds PLN 1 000 000, you will be required to pay a solidarity levy. The levy amounts to 4% of the excess over PLN 1 000 000.

A tax return for income earned or losses sustained during the fiscal year is submitted to the revenue office having jurisdiction over:

1. the place of residence or registered office of the employer if the employer is responsible for withholding tax,
2. your place of stay if the employer is not required to withhold tax on your remuneration in Poland,
3. the place where you work if the jurisdiction cannot be determined as described above.

There is one designated revenue office per province where you may submit the tax return:

1. Dolnośląskie Province – the Wrocław-Psie Pole Revenue Office,
2. Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province – the Second Revenue Office in Bydgoszcz,
3. Lubelskie Province – the First Revenue Office in Lublin,
4. Lubuskie Province – the First Revenue Office in Zielona Góra,
5. Łódzkie Province – the Łódź-Śródmieście Revenue Office,
6. Małopolskie Province – the Kraków-Śródmieście Revenue Office,
7. Mazowieckie Province – the Warszawa-Śródmieście Third Revenue Office,
8. Opolskie Province – the Head of the First Revenue Office in Opole,
9. Podkarpackie Province – the First Revenue Office in Rzeszów,
10. Podlaskie Province – the First Revenue Office in Białystok,
11. Pomorskie Province – the First Revenue Office in Gdańsk,
12. Śląskie Province – the First Revenue Office in Katowice,
13. Świętokrzyskie Province – the Second Revenue Office in Kielce,
14. Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province – the Revenue Office in Olsztyn,
15. Wielkopolskie Province – the Poznań-Nowe Miasto Revenue Office,
16. Zachodniopomorskie Province – the Third Revenue Office in Szczecin.

Important: if you earn income in more than one province, you submit the tax return to the Warszawa-Śródmieście Third Revenue Office.

If the employer withheld tax on your remuneration, you should receive the PIT-11 information from him. On its basis, you submit the PIT-37 tax return to the revenue office.

If the employer was not required to withhold tax on your remuneration, then you submit the PIT-36 tax return to the revenue office.

Important: you do not have to submit a tax return if the only revenues you have earned in Poland were subject to exemption due to the relief for young people.

The tax return for income earned or losses sustained should be submitted between 15 February and 30 April of the year following the fiscal year.

Please note: Tax returns submitted before the deadline are deemed to have been submitted on 15 February.

If 30 April falls on a Saturday or a holiday, the first working day following the holiday(s) is considered the last day for submitting tax returns.

Please note: If you have made an error in the tax return, you may submit a corrected one.

You may submit tax returns in the following forms:

• paper,
• electronic.

Tax returns in electronic form may be submitted using:

• an interactive PDF file,
• e-Deklaracje Desktop application,
• Twój e-PIT service.

You should sign tax returns submitted in paper form by hand.

You should sign tax returns submitted in electronic form using:

• a qualified electronic signature,
• ‘authorising data’, i.e. an electronic signature that guarantees the authenticity of tax returns and applications.

If you do not wish to submit a tax return in person, your attorney may do it for you.

Please note: Tax returns submitted by an attorney cannot be signed using the ‘authorising data’.

Important: an Official Confirmation of Receipt is used to confirm that a tax return in electronic form has been received. Please remember to check if you have received one.

If you are required to pay a solidarity levy, submit the DSF-1 declaration to the competent office. You should do this by 30 April.

DSF-1 declarations may be submitted in paper or electronic form.

You should sign declarations submitted in paper form by hand.

You should sign declarations submitted online using:

• a qualified electronic signature,
• ‘authorising data’, i.e. an electronic signature that guarantees the authenticity of tax returns and applications.

If you do not wish to submit declarations in person, your attorney may do it for you.

Please note: Declarations submitted by an attorney cannot be signed using the ‘authorising data’.

If you have made an error in your declaration, you may submit a corrected one.

Important: an Official Confirmation of Receipt is used to confirm that a tax return in electronic form has been received. Please remember to check if you have received one.

If your tax return shows a tax overpayment, then the revenue office is required to refund it.

The tax will be refunded within:

• 45 days (for tax returns submitted in electronic form),
• 3 months (for tax returns submitted in paper form),

- from the date of submission of the tax return.

Please note: If you submit the tax return before the deadline, the deadline for refunding the overpayment will be calculated from 15 February.

If, after submitting a tax return, you realise that you have made an error in the calculation or you have not deducted relief that you are entitled to, e.g. child relief, you may submit a corrected tax return. In such a case, the tax will be refunded on the basis of the corrected tax return. You should enclose an application for confirmation of overpayment with the corrected tax return.

The overpayment resulting from the corrected tax return will be refunded within 2 months from the date of submission of the application for confirmation of overpayment but no earlier than:

• 45 days (for tax returns submitted in electronic form),
• 3 months (for tax returns submitted in paper form),

- from the date of submission of the original tax return.

Please note: If you are a non-resident and you do not receive remuneration through a taxpayer, you submit the corrected tax return and the application to the revenue office having jurisdiction over non-residents in the province where you are staying or where you worked.

If you are a non-resident and you receive remuneration through a taxpayer, you submit the corrected tax return and the application to the revenue office having jurisdiction over non-residents in the province where the taxpayer’s place or residence or registered office is located.

Tax overpayments may be refunded:

• by transfer to a bank account,
• by postal order,
• at the cashier’s office of the revenue office.

Important: if you wish to have a tax refund transferred to your account, give your account number to an official. You may do this when you submit the tax return or when you submit a data update form (NIP-7 or ZAP-3).

Overpayments refunded by postal order are reduced by the costs of refunding the tax.

You may claim an overpayment at the cashier’s office only upon your request.

Please note: If your overpayment does not exceed PLN 23.20, you may claim it only at the cashier’s office.

The overpayment may not be refunded if the revenue office finds that you have arrears to it. In such a case, your overpayment will be offset against these arrears in full or to the extent needed to settle the arrears.

If you do not submit a tax return or you declare incorrect amounts in a tax return, the amount of your tax may be determined by the revenue office.

Please note: You have the right to appeal against this decision. You should lodge the appeal within 14 days from the date on which a higher authority receives the decision from the authority that issued that decision.