Before we move on to the Left's project, let us explain that the Ministry of Finance has been ensuring for years that it is not working on the introduction of a cadastral tax. There is no official government work in progress at this time.
The project of such a tax was proposed over a month ago (March 20) by the Left. This is a draft amendment to the Act on local taxes and fees, which is already in the Sejm. It assumes the introduction of cadastral tax on residential real estate, i.e. apartments and houses. The tax would be calculated on the value and not on the usable area, as is currently the case.
The project assumes that the tax would be calculated not on the basis of the cadastre (because there is no cadastre), but in a different way.
During consultations on this project, citizens submitted almost 300 positions. The consultations ended on April 22, and the result was clearly negative.
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What cadastral tax rates did the Left propose?
0.02 percent – tax at this rate the owners of houses and apartments would pay if it was the first or second building/apartment.
0.5 percent — owners would pay tax at this rate from the third and subsequent houses and apartments in 2027. (the first year from the date of entry into force of the regulations), and in each subsequent year the rate would be increased by 0.1 percentage point to a maximum of 1.5%. values.
Currently, the maximum rate for houses and apartments is PLN 1.25 per 1 sq m. usable area. It's not difficult to calculate that Today, the owner will pay a maximum of PLN 62.50 in tax for a 50-meter apartment, and PLN 125 for a 100-meter house.
The rate is the same for all types of residential real estate, regardless of the number of premises and residential buildings owned by a given taxpayer. It does not matter whether the apartment is in the center of Warsaw or in a small town. Location obviously affects the value, but not the tax payable.
How much would the tax be after the changes proposed by the Left in the project? In cadastral tax, the key factor is the value and, additionally, the number of residential properties owned.
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How much would the cadastral tax on an apartment and house be?
According to the project, the tax base for apartments and houses will alternatively be:
– product of square meters their usable area and average transaction price per square meter. usable area of residential premises or single-family houses in the commune in which the subject of taxation is located, given as of September 30 of the year preceding the tax year for which the tax amount is determined, in the DOM Portal (Data on Housing Trade) and the Developer Guarantee Fund or
– product of square meters usable area and the conversion rate of the replacement cost of 1 sq m. usable area of residential buildings determined by the voivode.
The authors of the project explain that currently conversion rate of the replacement cost of one square meter usable area of residential buildings determined by the voivode is the only parameter that can be used as the basis for determining the value of buildings and residential premises. There is no cadastre that should include the value of the property.
However, from June 2, 2027, the provisions on the DOM Portal (Data on Housing Trade) will come into force. This is why the project assumes that we would use data from this portal to determine the value of real estate and tax from 2028.
Moreover, the amount of tax in relation to a specific building or residential premises will depend on their number in a given taxpayer.
How would this translate into tax amounts? The authors of the project provide calculations in the justification.
For example, a taxpayer with a maximum of two apartments/houses would pay in 2026 for an apartment with an area of 56 sq m:
— PLN 78 tax — if the apartment is located in a commune in the Masovian Voivodeship (excluding Warsaw),
— PLN 123 tax — if the apartment is located in Warsaw.
Whereas for the third and subsequent apartments/houses the tax would be immeasurably higher. In the first year after the changes, tax for the third and subsequent apartment with an area of 56 sq m would be:
— PLN 1,911 — if the apartment is located in a commune in the Masovian Voivodeship (excluding Warsaw),
— PLN 3,075 — if the apartment is located in Warsaw.
In the following years, the tax for the third and subsequent apartments would be even higher.
According to the authors of the projects, such a tax “will limit the accumulation of housing substance for purposes other than meeting the housing needs of owners.”
In addition, municipal councils could reduce or increase the tax base for apartments and houses in their area.
Simultaneously, the rules for taxing residential areas used for business activities with real estate tax would remain unchanged. They will still be subject to the rate per square meter of used residential area (in the current year, the maximum rate is PLN 35.53 per 1 sq m of usable area, which means that for a flat of 56 sq m used for business purposes, you have to pay a tax of PLN 1,989.68).
How did the consultation participants evaluate the cadastral tax project?
294 people commented during the public consultations, which ended on April 22. According to 65 percent adoption of this act is not necessary, 75 percent does not accept the solutions contained in the project (71.4% – strong disagreement).
217 people expressed their opinion on the entire project. Most of them are negative comments. For example, below are some comments.
“Punishing people with an additional tax who earned and paid for their apartment or house and repay bandit loans (we have the most expensive mortgage loans in Europe!) this is a direct path to poverty and crisis in Polish families” – writes Agnieszka Rudnicka.
“This is another tax. It will not result in any reduction in rental or purchase prices of real estate. Any additional tax is always paid by the customer,” says Marcin Drozdowski.
“A socially harmful project. It leads directly to the impoverishment and expropriation of society,” says Mateusz Skibiński.
“The project is populist and will not bring any housing benefits just yet the crisis on the market will deepen more because the prices of apartment rentals will increase” – comments Dariusz Kubiak.
Commentators also point out that as a shortcoming of the project: does not include companies and large market players — their apartments used for business activities remain taxed as before (Łukasz Firek). It also does not cover developers and funds purchasing real estate.
Rafał Wojtkowiak asks whether “if you have 4 cars or 4 phones there will also be additional taxes.” Referring to the project, he states that “the state is already collecting rental tax.”
There are also positive comments accepting the changes. For example, Tomasz Mroczyński believes that “if apartments are subject to speculation, are empty, and especially young people cannot afford to buy them, I think that This bill is necessary to be at least the beginning of changes in the approach to treating a flat as a place of residence, and not as an investment and capital raising.
“The act on cadastral/anti-speculation tax/vacancy tax is necessary as soon as possiblewhile the proposed form is full of defects that need to be repaired. The tax should cover all apartments from 3 in total, regardless of the form of ownership and owner. – says Grzegorz Jaszewski.
Author: Łukasz Zalewski, journalist of Business Insider Polska
