A brief summary of the most important information for any business or individuals who plan to invest in Poland.
Corporate Income Tax (CIT)
CIT is levied at a rate of 19% (standard rate) or 15% (reduced rate for small taxpayers and new companies in the first year of business activity).
Withholding Tax Rate
A withholding tax of 19% is levied on income from redemption of shares, participating loans, and dividends; Withholding tax from interest, licence fees, and know-how is 20%.
Standard VAT
Standard VAT in Poland: 23%.
Reduced VAT
- Reduced rates: 5% and 8%
- Export of goods and services: 0%
- Intra-community supplies of goods: 0% (under certain conditions)
Personal Income Tax (PIT)
The PIT in Poland is progressive and the applicable rates in 2018 are:
- Annual taxable income up to 85,528.00 PLN is taxed at 18%
- Annual taxable income above 85,528.00 PLN is taxed at 32%
Certain types of income are not aggregated, but are subject to a flat rate of 19%.
Social & Health Contributions (Employee)
Social and Health contributions owed by Polish employees: 22.71%.
Social & Health Contributions (Company)
- 21% – 22.41% (until 31st March, 2018)
- 19.48% – 22.14% (applicable from 1st April, 2018)
Tax Losses
- Losses that cannot be set off may be carried forward for a maximum of 5 years (in a given year, at most 50% of the loss can be utilised)
- Tax loss from business activities may only be offset against income derived from those types of activities
- In certain cases, it is possible to offset losses of foreign companies
Transaction Tax (PCC)
Certain civil law transactions are subject to this tax in Poland, such as (but not restricted to):
- Sale of things or rights
- Exchange of things or rights
- Mortgage
- Loan
Normally, the tax is levied as a percentage of the transaction’s value – e.g. in case of a real estate sale, the tax amounts to 2% of the property’s market value.
Real Estate Tax
- For business land tax the maximum rate is 0.91 PLN/m2 (if private land the tax is 0.48 PLN/m2)
- The building tax (for business space) is 23.10 PLN/m2
- For non-business buildings the tax is 0.77 PLN/m2
These rates may be adjusted according to local conditions.
