Filing your Polish tax return as a foreigner (2026 income): which PIT, where and how

Filing a Polish tax return as a foreigner uses the same forms as a Pole, with one question first: are you a Polish tax resident? The answer decides which income goes in and which tax office gets the return. Then the form follows your income: PIT-37 for a Polish salary, PIT-36, PIT-36L or PIT-28 for a JDG (sole trader business), and a PIT/ZG attachment for income from abroad. For 2026 income you file between 15 February and 30 April 2027.

Step 1: resident or not

You are a Polish tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Poland in the tax year, or your centre of personal or economic interests is here. Either test is enough. How to count the days, what happens when two countries claim you, and the year you move are all in Polish tax residency.

What the answer means for your return:

The office for foreign persons (urząd skarbowy właściwy w sprawach opodatkowania osób zagranicznych) is not one office for the whole country. Each voivodeship (region) has one, for example the Trzeci Urząd Skarbowy Warszawa-Śródmieście for Mazowieckie and the Urząd Skarbowy Kraków-Śródmieście for Małopolskie. Which region counts depends on where you run the business, or where your payer is (where you stay, if there is no payer). If your income comes from more than one region, it is usually the Warsaw office. When in doubt, ask KIS (below) before you file.

For Ukrainians: 2026 is the last year in which people covered by the 2022 special act meet the centre-of-interests test by a written statement. From 2027 the ordinary two tests apply. If you also keep a Ukrainian FOP, read a Ukrainian FOP while living in Poland.

Step 2: which form fits your situation

PIT-37 only fits income paid through a Polish payer, such as an employer or ZUS, from sources in Poland. A salary paid by a company abroad does not qualify, so it goes on PIT-36 even if you have no business. What each JDG return contains (books, deductions, reliefs, joint filing) is in your JDG’s annual tax return. If you have a job and a JDG, a job and a JDG at the same time covers the ZUS side.

Income from abroad: two methods

The double tax treaty between Poland and the other country says how foreign income is treated. There are two methods:

• Exemption with progression (wyłączenie z progresją): Poland does not tax the foreign income, but adds it in to set the rate on your Polish income.
• Proportional credit (proporcjonalne odliczenie): Poland taxes everything and deducts the tax paid abroad, up to the Polish tax on that income. Without a treaty, the credit applies.

Twój e-PIT attaches a PIT/ZG for each country you declare. If the credit method applies to work or business abroad, check the abolition relief (ulga abolicyjna). It can lower the tax further, on the tax scale or the flat tax, as a rule by up to 1,360 PLN. The law’s rules on these methods do not mention ryczałt, so if you have foreign income on ryczałt, ask your accountant or KIS.

Non-residents

A non-resident files for Polish income, such as a JDG run in Poland or a Polish salary. You use the same forms, declare only the Polish income and name the office for foreign persons.

Residents of another EU or EEA country or Switzerland have two extra options, each needing a certificate of residence from their own country attached to the return:

• joint filing with a spouse, if at least 75% of the couple’s revenue is taxed in Poland;
• asking for some income on which the payer withheld a flat-rate tax (shown on an IFT-1R form) to be taxed on the scale instead.

Step 3: logging in and sending it

The easiest route is Twój e-PIT, the free service in e-Urząd Skarbowy (the online tax office). It prepares a return from the data the tax office already has. There are three ways in:

• a gov.pl login: Profil Zaufany (the free government login), the mObywatel app, an e-ID card or online banking. Profil Zaufany needs a PESEL;
• your tax data: PESEL or NIP, date of birth, and figures from your previous Polish return and one payer’s information form. This only works if you filed a Polish return the year before, and it opens Twój e-PIT only;
• the e-US mobile app.

How foreigners get each login, including without a Polish bank, is in government logins for foreigners. Expect the portal in Polish. podatki.gov.pl explains some forms in English and Ukrainian, PIT-36 among them.

Which number you sign with. With a JDG, VAT registration or employees of your own, your identifier is your NIP. Otherwise it is your PESEL. If you have no PESEL, you need a NIP: an individual without a business requests it on NIP-7. More in NIP, REGON and PESEL.

Paper. You can hand a paper return in at any tax office, or post it. A return posted with Poczta Polska, or with the national postal operator of another EU country, counts as filed on the date of the postmark. A refund takes up to 45 days for a return filed online and up to 3 months on paper. It can go to a foreign bank account: the return asks for the IBAN and SWIFT code.

Step 4: the dates for 2026 income

• 15 February 2027: the filing window opens. In 2026, Twój e-PIT published the pre-filled returns on 15 February. A return sent earlier counts as filed on 15 February.
• 30 April 2027 (a Friday): the last day to file and to pay any tax still owed, to your personal tax micro-account (mikrorachunek podatkowy).

If you do nothing, Twój e-PIT accepts a pre-filled PIT-37 for you on 30 April. That only happens if you had no other income that calls for PIT-36, so it never files the right return for someone with income from abroad. PIT-36, PIT-36L and PIT-28 are never accepted automatically. If you miss the deadline, file at once; paid late or filed late explains the interest and czynny żal (voluntary disclosure).

Leaving Poland before you file

• Residents file in the normal window, by 30 April 2027, with the office for their last Polish address. Twój e-PIT works from abroad, so keep your login working before you go.
• Non-residents whose Polish income came without a payer (a JDG, for example), or through a payer who does not do the year’s tax calculation, must file before leaving if they leave before 15 February 2027.

If your residence changed during 2026, you may have a split year: worldwide income up to the move, Polish income after it. Polish tax residency explains how that works.

Mistakes foreigners make

• Treating meldunek as residence. Registering your address with the municipality is an administrative step. Residence depends on the 183-day and centre-of-interests tests.
• Thinking under 183 days means non-resident. A home, family or business in Poland can make you resident with far fewer days.
• Forgetting the home country. Poland’s rules do not switch off your home country’s. If it still sees you as resident under its own law, it may expect a return too, and the treaty decides who taxes what.
• Accepting the pre-filled PIT-37 with a salary from abroad. It leaves the foreign income out. Reject it and file PIT-36 with PIT/ZG.
• Not keeping proof of foreign tax. The credit is for tax actually paid abroad. Keep the foreign return or assessment and your payslips or annual statement, and a certificate of residence where an option asks for one.
• Waiting for a JDG return to file itself. It does not. Check every pre-filled figure, add your business totals and send it yourself.

What to do next

1. Decide whether you were a Polish resident in 2026, and write down why (days, home, family, business).
2. Pick your form from the table above, and list every country you earned in.
3. Gather the figures: PIT-11 forms, your JDG’s year totals, the advances and ZUS you paid, and proof of tax paid abroad. Komplet, our free Mac app, keeps the year’s invoices and bank statements filed by month and groups the tax and ZUS transfers on one screen.
4. Check that your login works, or plan to file on paper.
5. File between 15 February and 30 April 2027, and pay any balance by the same day.
6. Unsure about residence, the office or a treaty? Call KIS (Krajowa Informacja Skarbowa, the national tax information line): 22 330 03 30 from a mobile, +48 22 330 03 30 from abroad, Monday to Friday 8:00–18:00.