A wedding gift from family or friends? You have to pay tax on this amount

Cash in an envelope, gold jewelry, and maybe expensive equipment – it is not only a nice gesture of wedding guests, but also a potential tax obligation. The tax office sees wedding gifts as donations and may demand a notification and even payment of tax. It all depends on who gives and how much.

For newlyweds, a gift is a joy, but for treasury officials often a tax base. The rules are clear: The obtained cash or valuables as a wedding gift are treated as a donationand this – if it exceeds a specific limit – is subject to notification and taxation.

How much can you get without tax?

– The Act on inheritance and gift tax provides for limits of tax -free amounts that depend on the degree of kinship with the donor. It should also be remembered that the limits are set for 5 years and relate to the sum of all donations from one person-says Monika Piątkowska, tax advisor from e-pity.pl and fillup.pl.

Polish law distinguishes three tax groups, on which the amount of tax -free depends:

• Group I (closest family, e.g. parents, children, siblings, in -laws): Limit PLN 36 120 5 years from one person.
• Group II (further family, e.g. uncle, nephews, grandchildren of siblings): Limit PLN 27,090.
• Group III (unrelated or very related persons): Limit PLN 5,733.

In practice, this means that each donation, e.g. an envelope with money, must be assigned to a specific person and analyzed individually. If we exceed the limit in 5 years from one person, the donation must be reported to the tax office.

– We do not add donations from all guests together or from many people from the same tax group. The limit refers to one person – emphasizes Piątkowska.

Tax exemption? Yes, but on condition

The exception are donations from the so -called zero group, i.e. the immediate family: parents, children, grandparents. In their case, even a donation above PLN 36 120 can be completely exempt from tax, but only if two conditions are met:

• Form of transfer – funds must be transferred by bank transfer or postal transfer. Cash handed in an envelope does not qualify for release.
• Declaration at the Office -The recipient is obliged to submit an appropriate declaration (SD-Z2 form) within 6 months of receiving the gift.

If any of these conditions is not met, the tax office may conclude that the donation is not subject to exemption and charging the tax, he emphasizes Piątkowska.

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