Personal investment accounts are supposed to be a revolution for savers and a tax exemption for some of the money saved in OKI. The Ministry of Finance published the draft law announced in the summer. In practice, it provides for a new tax and exemption from OKI tax. Interestingly, double taxation avoidance agreements will not apply to it.
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Read also: What will change in taxes from January 1, 2026? Again, a long list
Who will be exempt from the new tax on the value of assets in OKI
OKI is intended to support savers and small investors. According to the Ministry of Finance, investors will be able to create an OKI account in a form inspired by the Swedish ISK savings and investment account program.
Basically, OKI will consist in tax exemption (currently Belka tax, and after changes – from the new tax on the value of assets) up to PLN 100,000. zloty. A new tax on assets will have to be paid on the surplus over this amount, which – according to the Ministry of Finance's estimates – will amount to approximately 0.8-0.9 percent. The details of the project are described below.
This may mean a maximum profit for investors of approximately PLN 1,000. If it weren't for OKI, today they would have to pay 19% on savings and investments. Belka tax.
The Ministry of Finance explains that the new tax on the value of assets will not be strictly an income tax or a wealth tax. Income from assets accumulated in OKI will not be subject to income tax.
Read also: This is supposed to be a revolution for Poles' savings. The Ministry of Finance announced the plans
Who will pay the new OKI tax on what, i.e. project details
The taxpayers of the new tax will be natural persons who have OKI. Tax liability will arise at the time the taxpayer signs an agreement for maintaining OIC with a financial institution and will expire upon termination of such contract. Interestingly, investors will be subject to the new tax regardless of their place of residence (tax residence) and double taxation avoidance agreements relating to income tax or property tax will not apply to it. – It means that also a natural person living outside Poland, but having an OIC maintained by a financial institution, will have to pay tax on the value of assets in Poland — we read in the justification for the project.
The new tax will have to be paid on the total value of assets accumulated by natural persons on OKI. Therefore, if the taxpayer has more than one OKI in the tax year (which will be possible from January 1, 2028), the basis for calculating the tax will be the total value of all assets accumulated in such accounts in a given tax year.
The tax will be 19%. value of the NBP reference rate effective on October 31 of the year preceding the tax year, but not less than 0.1%. This means that the rate may change every year. The Minister of Finance will announce it in a notice published by November 30 of the year preceding the tax year.
Two OKI tax exemptions. What?
However, tax exemptions are key in the project, since OICs are to be an incentive for investors. In a given tax year, the sum of the value of exempt assets both in savings OICs and in investment OKIs (denominated in PLN) however, it will not be able to exceed 100,000. zloty.
There will be two exemptions:
— from savings, i.e., among others money in bank accounts and treasury bonds accumulated at OIC in the tax year, will be exempt from tax on the value of assets in the tax year up to PLN 25,000. zloty,
— from investmenti.e., among others shares and participation units in an investment fund, as well as money saved in bank accounts used to service these assets, will be released from tax on the value of assets in the tax year up to PLN 100,000. zloty.
What will be the OIC tax exemptions in 2026?
The Act on OIC is to enter into force on July 1, 2026. Therefore, the draft provides for a transitional provision, according to which from July 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026:
— the tax rate on the value of assets will be 0.85%, a
— exemption limits will be half of the target ones, so they will amount to:
1) PLN 12,500 – in the savings part,
2) 50 thousand PLN – in the investment part.
What other savings incentives are there?
The Ministry of Finance also reminded that there are currently several types of forms of long-term savings and tax incentives for retail investors. There are both individual (IKE, IKZE and PEIPE) and employee (PPE, PPK) forms of capital, long-term retirement savings. Savings accumulated in PPE, PPK, IKE, IKZE and PEIPE benefit from tax preferences in the capital gains tax (the so-called “Belka” tax), and additionally, contributions to IKZE in a given calendar year can be deducted from tax in the annual PIT (up to a specified limit).
Legislative stage: Draft act on personal investment accounts (list no. UD296) — submitted for public consultation.
Author: Łukasz Zalewski, journalist of the Law section of Business Insider Polska
