In Poland, the exchange of cryptocurrencies for traditional currencies (e.g. zlotys, euros or dollars) and payments with cryptocurrencies for goods or services are taxed. Even if in 2025 you only bought cryptocurrencies (without selling them), you must include the expenses incurred for their purchase in your PIT-38 return. However, many investors sold crypto last year and took profits. You must now calculate your taxable income, submit your tax return (by April 30, 2026) and pay the tax to the tax office by the same deadline.
Do you think that the tax office will not find out about crypto transactions? This is a mistake. The tax office will receive data about cryptocurrency investors on a platter, also from foreign exchanges. These will be the effects of the act that was signed literally yesterday, on March 9, 2026, by President Karol Nawrocki. Interestingly, the act will enter into force the day after its announcement in the Journal of Laws. We wrote about this law in Business Insider: Have you made money on crypto? You will no longer hide from the tax office.
Krzysztof Burzyński, tax advisor and partner at BTTP, suggests in the article how to prepare documentation for crypto transactions, correctly determine costs and revenues for 2025, and how to avoid disputes with the tax office. We also indicate the most common mistakes made by cryptocurrency investors.
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What revenues do you have to report in PIT-38 for 2025?
The PIT-38 return should include primarily income and costs from the paid sale of virtual currencies. The income includes, among others: exchange of cryptocurrencies for fiat currency (e.g. PLN, EUR, USD), as well as payment with cryptocurrency for goods or services in 2025 – If, for example, someone bought a laptop or a car in 2025 and paid for them with cryptocurrency, they must report income from the paid sale of virtual currencies – says Krzysztof Burzyński. The expert points out that a common mistake is to include only revenues from the exchange of cryptocurrencies for the so-called fiats, i.e. Polish zloty, euro or dollars.
At the same time, in PIT-38 you do not need to report income or costs related to the exchange of one cryptocurrency for another, because such a transaction is, in principle, tax neutral. For this reason, some investors, instead of exchanging e.g. bitcoin for dollars, exchange it for stablecoins (e.g. USDC or USDT) – and such an operation does not in itself generate taxable income.
What costs must be provided in PIT-38
PIT-38 should also include tax-deductible costs – if in 2025 the taxpayer incurred expenses on the acquisition of cryptocurrencies, i.e. purchased bitcoin, altcoins or stablecoins for PLN, EUR or other traditional currencies.
As Krzysztof Burzyński explains, Tax costs include both the purchase price of cryptocurrencies and commissions charged by exchanges – both when purchasing and selling. — Costs cannot be omitted, otherwise tax on the sale of cryptocurrencies will be charged on revenue, not on income. Therefore, the costs reduce the tax base – emphasizes Krzysztof Burzyński.
What exchange rate should be used when converting revenues and expenses
Most cryptocurrency transactions – both purchases and sales – take place in foreign currencies (e.g. dollars, euros, British pounds). Because in PIT-38, revenues and costs must be reported in Polish zlotys, the values from such transactions should be converted into Polish zlotys (PLN) at the appropriate exchange rate.
As Krzysztof Burzyński explains, in principle the average NBP exchange rate of a given currency from the last business day preceding the day of obtaining the income or incurring the cost is used. For example, if the taxpayer exchanged bitcoin for dollars on November 9, 2025, he converts the income obtained into PLN at the average NBP USD exchange rate on November 7, 2025 (the last business day before November 9). The amount after conversion is shown in PIT-38 for 2025.
Krzysztof Burzyński adds that if the transaction was settled directly in PLN (e.g. selling a cryptocurrency for PLN on an exchange offering PLN pairs), there is no need to use foreign exchange rates or additional conversion of income into PLN.
Cryptocurrency income earned abroad. Do you need to show tax in Poland?
As a rule, if you are a Polish tax resident in 2025, you settle all your income in Poland – regardless of where it was earned. This also applies to income from the paid sale of cryptocurrencies obtained on foreign exchanges or through foreign entities. Such transactions should be included in PIT-38and the method of settling the tax depends on the provisions of the relevant double taxation avoidance agreement (or – if there is no agreement – on the rules arising from Polish regulations).
As Krzysztof Burzyński emphasizes, It is a mistake to tax the same income twice. It can usually be avoided by using the method of eliminating double taxation provided for in a given situation (most often it is the deduction method, i.e. the possibility of including the tax paid abroad in the Polish settlement – in an appropriate proportion to the foreign income). If a taxpayer omits tax paid abroad in PIT-38 or uses an incorrect method specified in the contract, he or she may end up paying tax both abroad and in Poland.
In 2025, did you only buy crypto? What should be shown in PIT-38?
If in 2025 the taxpayer only purchased cryptocurrencies and did not sell them for a fee, in PIT-38, he should show only the costs of obtaining revenues (i.e. expenses for purchasing crypto and possible commissions). The PIT-38 return is submitted not only when there is income from the sale of virtual currencies, but also when the taxpayer incurred costs related to their acquisition.
Krzysztof Burzyński points out that the obligation to submit PIT-38 may arise also when in 2025 the taxpayer had neither revenues nor new costs, but has unsettled costs from previous years — then they must be shown in PIT-38 in order to “transfer” them to subsequent years (so-called rollover of costs). However, if the taxpayer incurred costs in previous years but did not report them in PIT-38, he or she should submit outstanding returns for the relevant years, include the costs in them and – if necessary – consider submitting an active complaint.
What if you haven't shown the costs of acquiring crypto yet?
It is worth remembering that the costs of purchasing crypto incurred before 2019 (e.g. in 2017) could be reported in the PIT-38 return for 2019. The key thing, however, is that at the end of 2025, 2019 became tax-limited. This means that, on the one hand, the tax office can no longer pursue tax liabilities arising in 2019, but on the other hand 2026, we have essentially irrevocably lost the right to show costs incurred but not disclosed for this period.
– Therefore, if the investor wanted to settle the costs of crypto acquisition for 2019 and earlier years and did not disclose them in the returns, he should have submitted (or corrected) PIT-38 for 2019 by the end of 2025 at the latest. In 2026, however, it remains to take care of those years that are not yet expired – advises a tax advisor.
Have you had a cryptocurrency loss in 2025? How to settle it
As Krzysztof Burzyński explains, there is no classic tax loss in the settlement of cryptocurrencies, which can be deducted from other sources of income. In practice, the taxpayer only reports the costs of obtaining revenues and – if they are not settled in a given year – they may transfer them to subsequent years. This means that when costs exceed crypto revenues in 2025, the surplus cannot be deducted, e.g. from income from the sale of shares or other income taxed with PIT. The only option is to show unsettled costs in the next year.
For example, if a taxpayer bought cryptocurrencies for PLN 1,000 in 2024 and did not sell them either in 2024 or 2025, and in 2025 purchased another crypto for PLN 1,000, he or she should report total costs of PLN 2,000 in PIT-38 for 2025. — “In the PIT-38 return for 2025, the amount of costs rolled over in this way (from 2025 and earlier years) should be included in the item 'income-generating costs incurred in previous years and not deducted in the previous tax year',” points out Krzysztof Burzyński.
Is there a solidarity tax for crypto?
A taxpayer who in 2025 achieved income from the paid sale of virtual currencies which – together with other income included in the basis of the solidarity levy – exceeds PLN 1 million, on the surplus over this limit, he must pay a solidarity tax of 4%. Income from cryptocurrencies is taken into account when determining the basis for this tribute.
As Krzysztof Burzyński emphasizes, in practice it is not enough to analyze only profits from crypto – they should be added to other income included in the solidarity levy. Only when the total basis exceeds PLN 1 million, the obligation to pay an additional 4% on the surplus over this threshold arises. tax.
When 75% threatens tax
Experts emphasize that it is not worth not paying 19%. cryptocurrency tax, because the penalties may be much more severe. Failure to submit an annual PIT return may result in fiscal penalties. It may be a misdemeanor, and sometimes a fiscal crime (if the unpaid tax is high enough).
Moreover, if a taxpayer has obtained large profits from cryptocurrencies and does not disclose them in the annual tax return, and then buys, for example, an apartment, etc. with this money, the tax office may begin to inquire where the taxpayer got the money for such purchases. If the tax authority conducts proceedings and finds that the taxpayer has not disclosed the sources of income, it has the right to impose a 75% tax in accordance with the regulations. on these undisclosed sources. Additionally, the taxpayer in such a situation may be subject to fiscal penal liability.
Author: Łukasz Zalewski, journalist of the Law section, Business Insider Polska
