In Poland, according to tax experts, there are favorable rules for settling tax on cryptocurrencies. If you exchange cryptocurrency for fiat currency (e.g. PLN, EUR, USD) or pay with cryptocurrency for a good or service, you have income.
Crypto-to-crypto exchange (e.g. BTC to ETH, USDC, USDT) is tax neutral. As long as you trade cryptocurrencies, there is no tax.
Revenues obtained in a given year must be reported in PIT-38. The problem is that you have to calculate it yourself, because in the case of crypto there is no brokerage office that would prepare a PIT-8C (as in the case of the sale of shares or funds).
Loss is also an issue, as it is for many people who have invested through Zondacrypto. Do I have to pay tax or can I settle the loss? In this situation, there are two possible answers: good and bad, depending on the investor's situation.
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Is it possible to settle the costs of obtaining income?
Tax (19%) on cryptocurrencies is paid on income. This means that taxpayers who made a profit on crypto, i.e. exchanged e.g. BTC for PLN, EUR, USD, may reduce their income by the costs of obtaining it.
As Krzysztof Burzyński, tax advisor and partner at BTTP, explained to us earlier, 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.
You should also remember to convert income and expenses into Polish zloty, because PIT-38 must include amounts expressed in PLN.
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 or 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 a 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.
You made a profit but did not withdraw from Zondacrypto. What about tax?
If you exchanged cryptocurrencies for fiat currency (e.g. USD) in 2025 and left the money on the Zondacrypto exchange, a tax liability arose. As we mentioned, exchanging crypto for regular currencies is taxed. It doesn't matter what happened to the money later.
In practice this means that if you exchanged e.g. BTC for USD in 2025, you must report the income in PIT-38 for 2025 and pay the tax, even if today you cannot recover the money left on Zondacrypto (even the website is no longer working).
People in such a situation lose twice: they have to pay tax and are unable to withdraw money from the stock exchange.
Can you settle a loss with crypto?
In the case of cryptocurrencies, it is not possible to settle losses, as is the case, for example, in the case of losses on shares.
Paradoxically, people who had cryptocurrencies on Zondacrypto in 2025 and did not exchange them for fiat currency or pay for goods or services are in a better situation. In such a situation no tax obligation has arisen, so there is no need to pay tax. Of course, such people still lose money if they left their crypto on the exchange and cannot withdraw it.
Author: Łukasz Zalewski, journalist of the Law section, Business Insider Polska
