How to Pay Tax on Rental Income in Poland
Set up a recurring bank transfer for 8.5% of your monthly rent to your mikrorachunek podatkowy, due by the 20th of the following month. That is the core obligation. The rest of this article covers how to get your mikrorachunek number, how to fill in the transfer correctly, what to file at year-end, and what to do if you have been renting without paying tax.
How Rental Income Is Taxed
Since January 2023, all private rental income in Poland is taxed under flat-rate revenue tax, officially ryczałt od przychodów ewidencjonowanych [1]. The old option of reporting rental income on the standard tax scale (12%/32% brackets) is gone for private landlords [2]. There is no choice to make here. Ryczałt is it.
The tax base is your gross rent. You cannot deduct repairs, furnishing, mortgage interest, or management fees. The upside is a low rate.
Rates
- 8.5% on rental income up to 100,000 PLN per year
- 12.5% on income above 100,000 PLN per year
These thresholds are per taxpayer, not per property [1] [3]. If you and your spouse co-own a rental apartment and split income 50/50, you each get a separate 100,000 PLN threshold. Only the amount above 100,000 PLN hits the higher rate.
Example: you collect 8,000 PLN/month in rent. Annual income is 96,000 PLN, all at 8.5%. Total yearly tax: 8,160 PLN, paid as 680 PLN each month.
What Counts as Private Rental
Private rental, najem prywatny, means you rent out property you own as an individual, outside of any registered business. This is the default for foreigners who buy an apartment and rent it out. If you run a registered działalność gospodarcza and renting is part of that business, different rules apply. This article covers private rental only.
Registering with the Tax Office
You do not need a separate registration form. Filing your first monthly ryczałt payment or your first PIT-28 annual return counts as notification to the tax office [1]. If you want to formally declare the start of rental activity in advance, you can submit a written statement to your local tax office, urząd skarbowy, but it is not required.
Your assigned tax office depends on where you live in Poland. If you do not live in Poland, it is typically the office responsible for the district where your property is located. For most non-residents, this ends up being Trzeci Urząd Skarbowy Warszawa-Śródmieście [4], but confirm based on your specific situation.
If two or more people co-own the property, each owner reports and pays tax on their share separately. Each person files their own PIT-28 at year-end [1].
Paying Monthly
You pay ryczałt by the 20th of the month following the month you collected rent. Rent collected in March is due by April 20. Rent collected in December is due by January 20 [1].
If your previous year's rental income was below 200,000 EUR equivalent, you can opt to pay quarterly instead (by the 20th of the month after each quarter ends) [3]. Most individual landlords qualify, but monthly is the default and simpler to track.
Getting Your Mikrorachunek Number
All tax payments go to your individual tax payment account, mikrorachunek podatkowy: a 26-digit Polish IBAN permanently tied to your PESEL (or NIP for businesses) [5] [6]. It never changes.
Generate yours at podatki.gov.pl using your PESEL or NIP [5]. If someone already gave you a number and you want to confirm it, paste it into the Mikrorachunek Checker.
Filling In the Bank Transfer
Use the tax transfer option (przelew podatkowy) in your online banking, not a standard transfer. Most Polish banks have this as a dedicated option, and it generates the required fields for you.
The key fields:
- Account number: Your 26-digit mikrorachunek
- Form symbol: Select PPE from the dropdown (the code for ryczałt od przychodów ewidencjonowanych)
-
Tax period: The month and year the payment covers, formatted as
03M/2026for March 2026, or1K/2026for Q1 2026 if paying quarterly - Taxpayer ID: Your PESEL or NIP
- Amount: 8.5% of that month's rent (or 12.5% on any portion above the cumulative 100,000 PLN threshold)
If your bank's tax transfer form asks for a raw transfer title instead of separate fields, the format is:
/TI/[your PESEL or NIP]/OKR/[period]/SFP/PPE
If your rent amount is stable, set up a recurring transfer for the 18th or 19th of each month. One day of buffer before the deadline. Payments received after the 20th incur interest.
Filing PIT-28 at Year-End
The Polish tax year is the calendar year: January 1 to December 31. After it ends, you file PIT-28, the annual return for ryczałt income, covering everything from the year that just closed [1]. You can file starting February 15 and the deadline is April 30 [7]. So for rent collected between January and December 2025, you file PIT-28 between February 15 and April 30, 2026.
Here is the full timeline for a single tax year:
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Jan–Dec 2025 | You collect rent and pay 8.5% monthly to your mikrorachunek by the 20th |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Last monthly payment (for December 2025 rent) |
| Feb 15, 2026 | Twój e-PIT opens. You can file PIT-28 starting this date |
| Apr 30, 2026 | PIT-28 deadline. Any underpayment is also due by this date |
| Within 45 days of filing | Tax office refunds any overpayment to your bank account |
Two Examples
Marta rents out one apartment for 5,000 PLN/month all year. Her annual rental income is 60,000 PLN, all below the 100,000 PLN threshold. She paid 425 PLN/month (5,000 × 8.5%) through the year, totaling 5,100 PLN. Her PIT-28 shows 60,000 PLN income, 5,100 PLN tax due, 5,100 PLN already paid. Everything matches. She files in March, owes nothing extra.
Tomek rents out two apartments. One brings 6,000 PLN/month, the other 5,500 PLN/month, for a combined 138,000 PLN/year. For the first several months, all his income is below the 100,000 PLN cumulative threshold, so he pays 8.5%. Once his cumulative income crosses 100,000 PLN (around September), the rent above that threshold is taxed at 12.5%. Tomek paid 8.5% on every monthly transfer and did not adjust when he crossed the threshold. His PIT-28 shows total tax due of 13,250 PLN (8,500 on the first 100K + 4,750 on the remaining 38K), but he only paid 11,730 PLN during the year (138,000 × 8.5% ÷ 12 × 12). He owes the 1,520 PLN difference by April 30, paid to the same mikrorachunek.
Most people are Marta. If your total annual rent stays under 100,000 PLN, your monthly payments will exactly match the year-end total and PIT-28 is just a formality.
How to File
The easiest way is through Twój e-PIT on podatki.gov.pl [7]. Log in with Profil Zaufany or the mObywatel app.
If you do not have Profil Zaufany, you can use the e-Deklaracje system, which authenticates you with personal data (PESEL, name, income amount from the previous year) instead of a login. Paper filing at your local urząd skarbowy also works, but there is no reason to do this unless you enjoy queues.
What If You Have Not Been Paying?
If you have been collecting rent without declaring income or paying ryczałt, you are accumulating tax liability plus interest. This is fixable.
Voluntary Disclosure
File overdue PIT-28 returns for each missed year and pay the back taxes with interest. Before you do, submit a voluntary disclosure, czynny żal, to the tax office: a written statement admitting the failure to pay on time [8]. If you submit it before the tax office contacts you about the issue, the penalty fine (which can be substantial) may be waived. You still owe the tax and interest, but avoiding the fine makes this worth doing immediately.
Calculating What You Owe
For each year: 8.5% of total rental income (12.5% on amounts above 100,000 PLN), plus statutory interest for late payment. The interest rate for tax arrears is currently 10.5% per year, as of March 2026. Calculate exact amounts using the Ministry of Finance's interest calculator [9].
Pay everything to your mikrorachunek, specifying the original period each payment covers in the transfer title. If you are dealing with multiple years of back taxes, a Polish tax advisor, doradca podatkowy, is worth the cost. They will file the returns, calculate interest accurately, and draft the czynny żal.
Key Numbers at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tax type | Ryczałt od przychodów ewidencjonowanych |
| Rate (up to 100K PLN/year) | 8.5% |
| Rate (above 100K PLN/year) | 12.5% |
| Payment frequency | Monthly (by the 20th) or quarterly |
| Payment destination | Your mikrorachunek podatkowy |
| Transfer form symbol | PPE |
| Annual return | PIT-28 |
| PIT-28 deadline | April 30 |
| Tax base | Gross rent collected (no expense deductions) |
Common Questions
Do foreigners pay tax on rental income in Poland?
Yes. If you own property in Poland and earn rental income from it, you owe Polish tax regardless of your citizenship or residency. Non-residents file PIT-28 with the tax office responsible for the property's location [4].
What happens if I miss the monthly payment deadline?
The tax office charges statutory interest daily from the day after the deadline until you pay. If the interest on a given payment is below 8.70 PLN, you do not need to pay it [9].
Do I need a Polish bank account?
Not strictly, but you should get one. Your mikrorachunek is a Polish IBAN. Transfers from foreign banks are slower, more expensive, and some banks struggle with the tax transfer format. A Polish account also makes collecting rent simpler.
Is Airbnb income taxed the same way?
Yes. Short-term rentals through Airbnb, Booking.com, or similar platforms are taxed at the same 8.5%/12.5% rates if you rent as a private individual. The gross booking amount is your tax base. Platform service fees are not deductible.
What is the difference between rental ryczałt and business ryczałt?
Ryczałt od najmu prywatnego (private rental) uses the 8.5%/12.5% rates covered here. Business ryczałt under działalność gospodarcza can have different rates depending on the service type. Both are reported on PIT-28, but in different sections. If you rent through a registered business, talk to a tax advisor.
References
- Rental Income Taxation (Dochody z najmu) — Ministry of Finance — podatki.gov.pl
- Act of 29 October 2021 Amending the Personal Income Tax Act (Polski Ład) — isap.sejm.gov.pl
- Act on Flat-Rate Income Tax (Consolidated Text, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 843) — isap.sejm.gov.pl
- Territorial Jurisdiction — Trzeci Urząd Skarbowy Warszawa-Śródmieście — mazowieckie.kas.gov.pl
- Mikrorachunek Podatkowy (Individual Tax Payment Account) — Ministry of Finance — podatki.gov.pl
- Mikrorachunek Podatkowy for PIT, CIT and VAT — biznes.gov.pl
- PIT Filing for 2025: February 15 to April 30 — Ministry of Finance — gov.pl
- Fiscal Penal Code, Art. 16 — Voluntary Disclosure (Czynny Żal) — isap.sejm.gov.pl
- Tax Arrears Interest Calculator — Ministry of Finance — podatki-arch.mf.gov.pl