Taxes on investments in Poland

Disclaimer: educational material about mechanics, not tax advice. Current as of September 2026; rules and interpretations change. Before filing, confirm the rules in official sources or with a tax adviser.

The thesis of this lesson: tax is a map, not a single number

Everyone says “the Belka tax is 19%” and that is true — but 19% of what depends on the income source. That difference decides whether costs reduce your tax. Before calculating your net result, establish which source the income comes from:

This table is worth memorising: it explains two everyday situations:

• Why a commission reduces the tax on a share sale — because it is an acquisition cost.
• Why nothing reduces the tax on a dividend — because a dividend is taxed on the gross amount, before any of your own costs.

If you invest in dividend companies and count on deducting costs, you are planning on a false assumption. A worked example of a single transaction, with the full calculation and a register table, appears in The Belka tax and brokerage costs.

How profit on a sale is calculated

• Proceeds − acquisition costs (purchase price + commissions + justified fees) = income.
• Commissions lower the tax base — which is why round-trip costs count twice: financially and for tax.
• Losses from some transactions reduce profits from others in the same year.

Example: a purchase for PLN (Polish złoty) 1,000 + PLN 5 commission, a sale for PLN 1,200 − PLN 5 commission → proceeds PLN 1,195, costs PLN 1,005, income PLN 190 → 19% tax = PLN 36.10. Tax amounts are rounded to whole grosz. Do this while planning, not “after the fact”.

Losses: the only place where they work

Three rules worth knowing before anyone advises you to “deduct a loss”:

1. In the same year, a loss on one transaction reduces profit on others — automatically, within capital income.
2. In later years, an unused loss can be carried forward, but with an annual cap. At present the figure discussed is half the loss per year for five years — confirm it in the rules in force before filing, as the parameter changes.
3. Never across sources. A loss on shares will not reduce the tax on employment, rental, or business income. That is not an interpretation, it is how the tax is constructed.

Point 3 is why an investor with a large loss and a well-paid job will not “recover” anything from the tax office — and why tax planning is not about hunting for reliefs but about not making mistakes.

What the broker does and what you must do

• The brokerage house issues PIT-8C — a statement of proceeds and costs. It does not withhold advances on the sale of securities.
• You calculate the income and file PIT-38 by 30 April of the following year, paying 19% on the sum of capital income. The deadlines within the year — the quarterly routine and the point of verification — are gathered in The tax calendar.
• The exception: dividends. Here the withholding tax is collected by the payer — the broker or the issuer — so the amount that reaches your account is usually already net of tax. That is a different mechanic from selling securities — do not mix the two cases in one line of your statement.
• You settle these yourself in particular:
  • crypto (a different regime from securities, with no payer on the exchange side) — more in Crypto taxes in Poland,
  • income from foreign accounts, where the entity does not act as a payer in Poland,
  • foreign dividends, where withholding tax procedures apply.

Current as of September 2026 — confirm at the source.

“Your broker will handle everything” is an assumption that fails exactly when you have more than one account, or anything beyond Polish shares. It is worth establishing your own case before your first tax year, not in April.

Annual statement — fill it in yourself

The last column is the only number you actually feel in April. Update it once a year — five minutes that save surprises.

Accounts with tax relief: IKE and IKZE

A separate category, sometimes confused with “avoiding tax”: retirement accounts with tax preferences.

Both have annual contribution limits, and both lock the money until retirement age. This is a tool for a long horizon, not for trading — if you plan to rotate positions weekly, these accounts are not for you. Confirm the limits in official sources before you contribute.

Tax and investment decisions

• Short horizon and frequent transactions — cost + tax on every trade; count net.
• Long holding — tax arises on sale, not annually on value (this is not a wealth tax).
• Dividend tax — charged on the gross amount, with no deduction of costs, separately from gains on sales.
• Foreign markets — a layer of withholding tax and the relevant procedures is added; this is where an adviser pays for themselves.
• A tax plan = awareness of how much actually remains, before judging whether a strategy makes sense.

When taxes say “do not trade”

1. When you do not know which source your income belongs to. Without that you do not even know whether costs are deductible.
2. When you count on deducting a loss from other income. There is no such possibility.
3. When you settle crypto like shares. A different regime, different obligations, a different point at which income arises — confirm the position in the rules, as this area has many interpretations.

A measurable exercise

Take three example transactions (one share, one ETF, one crypto) with real amounts and commissions. For each, establish the source of income, the tax base, the tax amount, and the net result. Then calculate the total gap between “profit in the account” and “profit after tax” — and enter it in your plan as a fixed cost of your investing style.

Common questions

Do commissions reduce the tax?

On a sale of securities, yes — the purchase commission forms part of the acquisition costs, and the sale commission reduces proceeds. On a dividend, no: the tax is calculated on the gross amount and costs are not deductible.

Can I deduct losses on shares from profits on ETFs?

Yes — within capital income, in the same year, and the unused part in later years with an annual cap. You cannot, however, deduct a loss from income from employment, rental, or business.

Are IKE and IKZE a way to avoid tax?

No — they are accounts with a deferred or altered form of taxation, annual contribution limits, and the money locked until retirement age. Provided the conditions are met, IKE lets you withdraw gains without capital gains tax, and IKZE gives a deduction on contributions and a flat rate on withdrawal. It is a tool for a long horizon, not for trading.

Does this lesson replace a tax adviser?

No. It gives you a map of sources, the rules, and official references. Complex cases — crypto, foreign accounts, a company, several accounts — require an adviser. This lesson teaches you which questions to ask.