Updates in a polish tax system for Ukrainians

Lots of Ukrainians, who arrived in Poland after the 24th of February, stayed there for the whole year and found a job. When are they gonna become tax residents and how will they pay taxes - you will find answers in this article.

Tax residency

There are approximately over 2 millions of Ukrainians in Poland nowadays. Some of them have found a job in Poland, others continued to work remotely for other companies from abroad, Ukrainian companies as well. According to Polish law, an individual who stayed legally in Poland for more than 183 days per calendar year, become a tax resident. Tax residents are obliged to pay taxes in the country of residency from their worldwide income.

All those people, who moved to Poland from the 1st of July 2022 will become tax residents till 31st of December 2022.

Another way to prove residency is to demonstrate "centre of life". For example, in which country your kids are attending school or your parents and spouse live. This rule can be used to prove your residency based solely on your close relatives (kids, husband or wife, parents).

How to submit a tax declaration

The tax year in Poland ends on the 31st of December. You should file your tax return till 2. 5. 2023. You will need to enter your PESEL or NIP, polish address and information of your incomes. If you received IFT-1 or IFT-1R confirmation, it means that the employer paid taxes for you as for non-resident.

Tax declaration is called PIT-37 and can be submitted online or by post. The complicated part of it is the tax allowances. Tax residents are allowed to receive tax allowances (you can check the article on our blog). The most popular one is a child bonus. You can receive 1112 PLN per year for one child and this amount will change , depending on the number of children.

How to pay a debt

Usually, when you are employed and working in Poland, you will receive a tax refund. However, if you or your employer didn’t pay taxes during the tax year, you probably have a debt. There are several variants of how to pay it:

• by cash in the cash register,
• online using of the online systems,
• using stocks.

If you are late paying your debt, you may be fined.. The penalty is 8 % per year, but there is an option to reduce it to 4 % per year, if you submitted an additional tax return. The penalty is counted from the next day after a deadline. For example, if the deadline was 31. 5, the penalty starts from 1. 6. Each tax office has its own bank account where a debt should be paid. Be sure to always verify it before sending money. If you transfer money but have made a mistake in your bank account or other details, it will not be accepted by the tax office, until you send an objection letter with correcting information or adding another confirmation.

Feel free to contact us with any tax problem and our tax advisor will help you.