Poland Crypto Tax Guide 2024 [Podatek od Kryptowalut]

How is crypto taxed in Poland? We've got everything you need to know in our Poland Crypto Tax Guide 2024, including crypto capital gains, crypto income, and how to calculate and report your crypto taxes to the Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa (KAS) by the 30th of April deadline.

Do you pay cryptocurrency taxes in Poland?

Yes. You’ll pay tax on crypto in Poland whenever you have a profit from converting crypto to fiat currency like PLN.

How much tax do you pay on crypto in Poland?

You’ll pay a flat 19% tax on any gains or income from crypto in Poland.

How is crypto taxed in Poland?

In Poland, crypto - or virtual currency - is defined as a digital representation of value, that may be exchanged into legal tender and the laws around it are pretty simple. You’ll pay a flat 19% on any gain you make as a result of converting your crypto to fiat currency. While you might think that means you’ll only pay tax when you sell your crypto, it’s not quite the case. So when will you have a gain?

Crypto Capital Gains

The guidance from the Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa (KAS) around what constitutes a taxable disposal of crypto in Poland is clear. You’ll need to calculate a gain or loss from the following transactions:

• Exchanging virtual currency for legal tender like PLN or EUR

• Exchanging virtual currency for goods, services, or property rights

• Settling liabilities with virtual currency

In other words, it’s only when you’ve converted your crypto to fiat that the KAS will tax your gains. This means lots of transactions - like trading crypto for crypto - are tax free in Poland.

Capital Gains Tax Rate Poland

There is no dedicated Capital Gains Tax rate in Poland, instead gains from crypto are taxed at a flat 19% tax rate.

How to calculate gains and losses

It’s easy to calculate your gain or loss from crypto. To start, you need to know your cost basis. That’s how much your crypto cost you to acquire, plus any allowable fees like purchase fees.

Once you know your cost basis, simply subtract it from your sale price, or if you otherwise disposed of your crypto like spending it, use the fair market value of your crypto in PLN on the day you disposed of it.

This will leave you with a gain or a loss. Your gains will be taxed at 19%, while your losses aren’t taxable (but they are useful so we’ll cover more on this in a moment).

Accounting methods for crypto in Poland

Our explanation above is simplistic. In reality, most crypto investors have multiple assets of the same kind - for example, 3 BTC or 10 ETH. When you have multiple assets, it can be difficult to know which cost basis to use to calculate your gain or loss, which is where a cost basis accounting method comes into play.

The KAS does not provide information on allowable cost basis methods for cryptocurrency, but in general, in Europe, the following methods are the most common:

• FIFO

• HIFO

• ACB

Speak to your accountant for bespoke guidance on which cost basis method you can use or learn more about cost basis methods for crypto in our guide.

Crypto losses

Crypto losses are deductible in Poland, which means you can offset them against your gains and reduce your overall tax liability. You can report your losses in the PIT-8 tax form. These losses can be exempted from tax and carried forward, as long as you account them for expenses in the subsequent year. 

Lost and stolen crypto

The Polish tax office has not released guidance on the tax treatment of lost or stolen crypto. You should speak to your accountant or reach out to the tax authority directly to determine how to account for crypto losses due to theft.

Crypto Income

The KAS guidance is only concerned with profits from crypto where they’re converted to a fiat currency. As such, many transactions where you’re earning crypto - like mining rewards or staking rewards - may be tax free upon receipt. But if you later sell these rewards, they’d be taxable as any other disposal for fiat currency.

As well as this, when determining the cost basis of crypto income, it’s likely that the cost basis would be 0 PLN, as you did not pay anything to acquire your crypto, meaning the entire proceeds from disposing of crypto income would be taxed at 19%. 

Although we’ve mentioned crypto mining and staking rewards, many other transactions, for example, airdrops, ICOs, or lending interest may be crypto income. Without guidance from the KAS, you should always speak to a qualified accountant for guidance.

Other taxes on crypto in Poland

When it comes to other potential taxes on crypto - only two could potentially apply, VAT and Gift Tax. 

For VAT, the guidance is clear, cryptocurrencies are considered means of payment rather than property. This classification by the Ministry of Finance influences their treatment under VAT regulations.

Meanwhile, for Gift and Inheritance Tax, it’s less than clear when it comes to crypto specifically. However, Poland does have a Gift and Inheritance Tax that applies to property and assets, so gifted crypto may be taxable too. The tax free exemption rules vary depending on your relationship to the donor.

Tax free transactions

With all the bad news out the way, let’s get to the good news, many crypto transactions in Poland will be tax free. This includes:

• Buying crypto with fiat like PLN

• Trading one cryptocurrency for another

• Transferring crypto between your own wallets

• Holding crypto long-term

• And potentially crypto income upon receipt

When to report crypto taxes in Poland

You report your crypto as part of your annual tax return in Poland, in the PIT-38 form. The Polish financial year is the same as the calendar year (so between 1 January and 31 December each year). You’ll report any profits from crypto in your annual tax return between 15 February and 30 April of the following year. This is because some forms you may need to file relating to your crypto transactions have an earlier due date than your standard tax form, for example, the PIT-28 and PIT-28S tax forms.

How to report crypto taxes in Poland

You can report your crypto in two ways:

• Paper forms

• Via the online portal

If you use the online portal, you have three different options for submitting your tax return: 

• an interactive PDF

• The e-Deklaracje desktop app

• The Twój e-PIT service

Can the KAS track crypto?

Yes. Poland is an EU member and follows provisions like DAC-8 which mandates all crypto companies to follow financial service legislation, including collecting KYC data and sharing investor data with EU members - potentially including tax offices.