Changes in the IP Box relief (5% income tax), lump sum tax on recorded income, donations of leased cars, housing relief, Estonian CIT – these are just some of the changes 31 changes included in the new version of the draft major amendment to PIT and CIT. Only some of the proposals are a repeat of the project that the government was supposed to adopt last fall. There are many modifications and new features in the project. Ultimately, the changes are to enter into force on January 1, 2027. The Ministry of Finance explains that the aim is to tighten taxes.
Experts are critical of these proposals. When it comes to changes for companies, some tax advisors even compare them to the Polish governance.
The state budget is expected to “earn” a lot from these changes – approximately PLN 700 million in the second year, and during the decade – approximately PLN 7.3 billion.
How does the Ministry of Finance want to seal the IP Box relief, Estonian CIT, lump sum and car donations
Changes in PIT and CIT are provided for in the draft amendment to these two acts (list no. UD116). We list them briefly.
— IP Box relief — only taxpayers who employ at least three people can benefit from it. Currently, no employment is required, so programmers running a sole proprietorship also benefit from the relief. Therefore, the change is assessed as the elimination of this relief for developers.
— Estonian CIT — the project includes several changes, including: expanding the catalog of hidden profits whose withdrawal triggers the need to pay tax.
The project also assumes that it will not be possible to switch to Estonian CIT during the tax year. This is now possible.
— Lump sum from recorded income – services provided by flat-rate taxpayers to related entities would be subject to a higher rate – 17%. Currently, a lower rate is possible, e.g. 8.5%.
Moreover, it is taxed at a rate of 15%. rental income should exceed PLN 100,000. PLN (private and as part of business activity) provided to related entities.
Taxed at a rate of 15%. there are also supposed to be revenues above PLN 100,000. PLN from the provision of services currently taxed at the rate of 8.5%, if the taxpayer does not employ any employees.
– The person who will receive a post-lease car from a member of her immediate family, she will be able to sell it and not pay PIT only after three years if the value of this donation exceeds the tax-free amount for tax group I (PLN 36,120). Currently, you just need to wait half a year.
— Housing relief in PIT – the taxpayer will be able to use the housing relief if he did not use it in the period of three years preceding the year in which he sold the real estate. Today there is no such condition.
— Prohibition of depreciation of real estatewhich are classified in accounting as investments, by real estate companies.
How do tax advisors evaluate the changes?
— If the act were to enter into force in this form, it would be a total revolution for thousands of companies with Polish capital, I would be tempted to say that it may even be comparable to the “Polish order” – said Bartosz Mazur, tax advisor from Gekko Taxens on LinkedIn.
The expert noted two modifications:
— changes in the Estonian CIT. — On the plus side, a much better form of “tax amnesty”which is likely to cover a significant portion of Estonian CIT taxpayers who made some mistakes when preparing interim reports. On the downside – continuation of the concept of recognizing fees for intangible services and rentals as hidden profits. I can understand the former, but the latter is a huge blow to the Estonian CIT – comments Bartosz Mazur;
— the return of the hidden dividend concept. — Most “intangible” or licensed services, where the service provider is the owner of the company – a natural person, will not be tax deductible for the company – explains Bartosz Mazur.
Jacek Wojtach, tax advisor and managing associate at the Tomczykowski Tomczykowska law firm, points out on LinkedIn that the project also contains some new elements compared to the 2025 version. The expert draws attention to the so-called hidden dividends. — Now “hidden dividends” are to become commonplace. Well all benefits related to intangible services, provision of intellectual property rights and similar, paid to partners (holding at least 5% of shares) are to be excluded from the companies' tax-deductible costs – explains Jacek Wojtach.
— I understand that the tax office does not like the quite common mechanism of “withdrawing” money from the company through services provided by partners, but then what are the provisions on: transfer prices (TP), the need to document services, questioning B2B cooperation as spurious (see the changes in PIP powers that have been carried out with pomp for several months), the anti-tax avoidance clause (GAAR)? – comments Jacek Wojtach. In his opinion, the situation is repeating itself again in which, despite the multitude of instruments to prevent abuse (all of which taxpayers must prepare for, analyze, secure, etc.), the Minister of Finance wants to have a guillotine anyway, with which he can cut down a given practice here and now. – Why make more work and go to these miserable courts when everything can be done with a bang and a scream – comments Wojtach.
Author: Łukasz Zalewski, journalist of the Law section, Business Insider Polska
