Although there is still a lot of time left to settle your tax return for 2025 (it usually starts in mid-February and lasts until the end of April), it is worth getting interested in it now.
All because of the reliefs that will be available when completing next year's PIT. Since we are settling accounts for 2025, the form will include everything that happened with our money this year.
That's why it's worth using all the tricks provided by tax regulations to legally reduce your PIT and get a tax refund of several thousand zlotys in the spring, and at the same time increase your pension a little. There are a few weeks left to remember about your IKZE or – if you don't have it yet – consider setting it up.
See also: How much do you have to earn for your pension to amount to PLN 5,000? Specific amounts
Voluntary saving
However, to explain what this trick is, you must first understand how the Polish pension system works.
At the time of its creation, it was based on three pillars. The first, i.e. the state system. It is simply an account with ZUS. The second pillar is a sub-account in ZUS and Open Pension Funds. And finally, the third pillar, which, unlike the first two, is completely voluntary.
It consists of all additional forms of saving for retirement, such as: Individual Retirement Account (IKE), Employee Capital Plans (PPK), Employee Pension Plans (PPE) or the Individual Pension Security Account.
The idea is simple: the state pension (i.e. from the first two pillars) will be so low that without additional saving it may be difficult to live in old age at the level to which we have become accustomed. We have written many times in Business Insider Polska that for the generation of today's 30- or 40-year-olds, the benefit will amount to even less than half of their last salary.
Therefore, experts and the state encourage people to save independently and additionally for the autumn of life. And the forms mentioned above are intended to facilitate this.
The money paid into IKZE is exempt from Belka tax and remains in such an account until we reach retirement age. They are also fully private, so they are subject to inheritance. The situation is similar with IKE, i.e. Individual Retirement Account, but there are also a few differences (e.g. IKE does not provide annual tax benefits in PIT).
See also: IKE vs. IKZE from the perspective of an entrepreneur. What and when to choose so as not to lose on taxes
IKZE and tax benefits
However, apart from additional savings, we have one more benefit. Lower tax thanks to the use of the Individual Retirement Security Account.
Such an advantage We will only feel it when we settle our personal income tax for the past yearwhich expires at the end of April 2025. However, in order to calculate the tax due, it is first necessary to calculate our annual income. It depends on him how much he will have to pay to the tax office.
After calculating our income, we will be able to take advantage of numerous deductions, often called “tax reliefs”. One of them is IKZE.
How does it work? After calculating the taxable income, you can also subtract the payments made to the Individual Retirement Account (importantly, the relief is not available in the case of IKE – Individual Retirement Account, these are two different instruments, as we wrote about a few paragraphs above) and only then calculate the tax.
Example? Taxpayer A's income from various sources (employment contracts, mandate contracts) during the year amounted to PLN 50,000. zloty. However, taxpayer A paid PLN 5,000 to IKZE. zloty. The tax base will therefore be PLN 45,000. PLN and a 12% tax will be calculated from this. tax due. And instead of 6 thousand it will be PLN 5.4 thousand. zloty. Profit? PLN 600.
However, this is a relatively low benefit, especially if we consider that it is practical we “freeze” money for several dozen years. Withdrawing funds from IKZE before reaching retirement age will de facto eliminate tax profits. However, the greater the contribution to IKZE, the higher the benefits. Profits also increase with the taxpayer's income.
If the same taxpayer during the year instead of PLN 50,000 he earned PLN 150,000. PLN, it will already be subject to the 32% rate. It falls into the so-called second tax bracket. Then the benefit from the PLN 5,000 paid into IKZE PLN will be higher, as much as PLN 1.6 thousand. zloty.
In some cases, this will mean a much higher tax refund, and in others – a much lower tax to be paid in April 2025. However, the most important thing is to make the payment by the end of 2025. Then we will benefit from the deduction at the earliest opportunity.
Beware of limits
IKZE can be established in the form of a deposit, investment fund or brokerage account, or purchased in the form of insurance.
However, it is not the case that you can deposit any amount into IKZE. I mean, you can, but you will only experience tax benefits up to the statutory limits set by the Ministry of Family and Social Policy.
The limits for contributions to the Individual Pension Security Account (IKZE) in 2025 are:
- PLN 10,407.60 for persons employed under an employment contract,
- PLN 15,611.40 for people running non-agricultural business activities.
The limits do not have to be used in full, and the amount intended for saving can be paid at once or spread over time in a given calendar year.
Therefore, it is easy to calculate that with maximum payments, the tax benefit for entrepreneurs in the second tax threshold may amount to nearly PLN 5,000. zloty. Full-time employees can get a tax refund of PLN 3,300. zloty.
How and where to set up an IKZE? There are many possibilities. This can be done through a bank, but also through more specialized institutions. This includes insurance companies, investment funds and general pension companies.
See also: Poles do not want starvation pensions. They took matters into their own hands
IKZE are gaining popularity
We wrote in Business Insider Polska a few weeks ago that this method of saving for retirement is gaining popularity in Poland.
Data from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority show that in the first six months of 2025, Poles opened nearly 42,000. new IKZE accounts. This is one third more than in the same period of the previous year and 65%. more than two years ago.
This positive trend shows that thousands of us have decided to take matters into our own hands so as not to receive starvation benefits from ZUS in old age.
Well over PLN 14 billion of our savings are already deposited in IKZE.
Among savers men dominate. There are over 325 thousand of them. compared to 289 thousand women. The largest age group is 40-year-olds, but the rest varies depending on gender.
In the case of women, the second largest group are 50-year-olds, and in men – 30-year-olds. People under 30 are still relatively least likely to save in IKZE.
