Poland’s parliament has approved a major restructuring of personal income tax that would introduce a new 24% band, raise the threshold for the highest 32% rate to PLN 150,000 and provide annual tax savings of up to PLN 3,600 (approximately $920 or €820) for some taxpayers.
The Sejm, Poland’s lower house, passed the legislation on Thursday, 22 October 2026, by 240 votes to 58, with 135 abstentions.
In a significant change from the original government proposal, MPs removed provisions that would have raised corporate income tax (CIT) from 19% to 22% for large companies.
The legislation retains a proposed increase in the solidarity levy on high-income taxpayers from 4% to 5%, alongside tighter eligibility rules for Poland’s lump-sum income-tax system used by some self-employed professionals and business owners.
Parliament also adopted an amendment providing for annual inflation-linked adjustments to personal income-tax thresholds, beginning with the 2028 tax year.
The Sejm-approved legislation, transmitted to the Senate on 23 October, is now awaiting further parliamentary consideration.
The proposed changes are scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2027, but they have not yet become law.
Poland moves towards a three-band income-tax system
The central change concerns Poland’s progressive personal income-tax system, known as PIT.
Under the current rules, taxable annual income up to PLN 120,000 is subject to a 12% marginal rate, while income above that threshold is taxed at 32%.
The new legislation would replace that two-rate structure with three bands.
| Taxable annual income | Current system | Sejm-approved proposal |
|---|---|---|
| Up to PLN 120,000 | 12% | 12% |
| PLN 120,000–130,000 | 32% | 12% |
| PLN 130,000–150,000 | 32% | 24% |
| Above PLN 150,000 | 32% | 32% |
The percentages are marginal tax rates, meaning they apply only to the relevant portion of taxable income.
Someone earning more than PLN 130,000 would not suddenly pay 24% tax on their entire annual income.
Instead, the first PLN 130,000 would remain in the 12% band, the next PLN 20,000 would fall into the 24% band, and only income above PLN 150,000 would attract the 32% rate.
The existing annual tax-reducing amount of PLN 3,600 remains in the legislation, preserving the basic tax-free allowance of PLN 30,000 under the standard calculation.
The PLN 130,000 threshold is equivalent to approximately $33,100 or €29,600 at the National Bank of Poland’s exchange rates on 23 October.
The PLN 150,000 threshold is approximately $38,200 or €34,200.
The values are statutory thresholds expressed in Polish zlotys. The foreign-currency equivalents are illustrative and do not determine eligibility.
How much could employees save?
The government originally estimated that approximately 3.5 million taxpayers would benefit from the changes to the personal income-tax scale.
It also estimated that the maximum annual saving could reach PLN 3,600.
The effect can be demonstrated by comparing the current statutory PIT calculation with the proposed three-band system.
| Annual taxable income | Current annual PIT | Proposed annual PIT | Annual saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| PLN 100,000 | PLN 8,400 | PLN 8,400 | PLN 0 |
| PLN 130,000 | PLN 14,000 | PLN 12,000 | PLN 2,000 |
| PLN 140,000 | PLN 17,200 | PLN 14,400 | PLN 2,800 |
| PLN 150,000 | PLN 20,400 | PLN 16,800 | PLN 3,600 |
| PLN 200,000 | PLN 36,400 | PLN 32,800 | PLN 3,600 |
These are illustrative calculations for an individual taxed under the standard scale, assuming no additional deductions, special reliefs or joint taxation arrangements. They exclude social-security and health-insurance contributions.
Annual taxable income is not the same as gross employment salary.
An employee’s taxable income is calculated after relevant deductions, including applicable social-security contributions and employment-related costs.
As a result, a person with gross annual earnings of PLN 150,000 would not necessarily have PLN 150,000 of taxable income.
Under the proposed system, the maximum saving attributable solely to the revised tax bands would generally reach PLN 3,600 once taxable income reaches PLN 150,000.
People with lower taxable income who never exceed the current PLN 120,000 threshold would generally see no benefit from the threshold changes alone.
MPs add inflation-linked tax thresholds
One of the most significant additions during the parliamentary process concerns the future adjustment of tax bands.
The Sejm adopted an amendment introducing annual indexation of the thresholds when the relevant official consumer-price indicator exceeds 100, indicating positive inflation.
Under the amendment adopted during the 22 October voting, the revised thresholds would be adjusted using Statistics Poland’s published annual consumer-price index.
The legislation requires the finance minister to announce the adjusted tax scale for the following year by 30 November.
The first adjustment is scheduled to be calculated in 2027 for the 2028 tax year, using the average annual inflation indicator for 2026.
This means the proposed PLN 130,000 and PLN 150,000 thresholds are intended to apply initially in 2027, with a mechanism for later increases.
The actual thresholds for 2028 have not been determined.
The amendment could help prevent inflation-driven earnings increases from automatically pushing more taxpayers into higher income-tax bands.
However, it is the taxable-income thresholds that would be indexed. The legislation should not be interpreted as providing an automatic increase in salaries or an equivalent inflation adjustment to every component of the tax system.
Planned corporate-tax increase removed
A major change from the government’s original tax package occurred during the Sejm’s final consideration of the bill.
The government proposal adopted on 29 September included a plan to increase the standard corporate income-tax rate from 19% to 22% for specified larger taxpayers.
Its scope covered companies with annual revenues above €50 million, together with certain corporate groups under the proposed criteria.
The government presented the increase as part of a set of measures intended to compensate for revenue lost through the personal income-tax changes.
However, MPs adopted minority amendments removing the provisions that would have amended the Corporate Income Tax Act.
The relevant amendments passed by 220 votes to 214, with one abstention.
The final text transmitted to the Senate contains changes to the Personal Income Tax Act and the legislation governing lump-sum income taxation, but no amendment introducing the proposed 22% corporate tax rate.
That distinction is commercially important.
Large companies should not treat the proposed increase to 22% as legislation approved by the Sejm.
The removal also changes the fiscal structure of the package compared with the government’s original plans.
The full budgetary consequences of removing the corporate-tax measure have not been independently established from an updated government fiscal assessment.
Nor does the vote mean that Poland’s corporate income-tax system has been permanently protected from future changes.
It means that the specific corporate-tax increase contained in this bill was removed before the legislation was sent to the Senate.
Solidarity levy would rise to 5%
The Sejm-approved legislation retains a separate measure affecting certain high-income individuals.
Poland’s solidarity levy, known as danina solidarnościowa, would increase from 4% to 5%.
The levy generally applies to specified qualifying income exceeding PLN 1 million annually, subject to the statutory rules for establishing its taxable base.
The additional percentage point would apply to the qualifying amount above that threshold, rather than automatically to an individual’s entire income.
For example, if the relevant solidarity-levy base were PLN 1.5 million, the PLN 500,000 above the threshold would produce a levy of PLN 25,000 at 5%, compared with PLN 20,000 at 4%.
That is an illustrative difference of PLN 5,000, assuming the same qualifying base.
The levy is separate from the ordinary personal income-tax calculation.
Some taxpayers benefiting from the revised PIT brackets could therefore face an offsetting increase in their total tax liability because of the higher solidarity levy.
The approved legislation specifies that the new rate would first apply to the solidarity-levy settlement with a payment deadline of 2 May 2028.
Consequently, the change should not be described as an additional 5% tax immediately applying to all high earners during 2026.
Major changes for self-employed taxpayers
The legislation would also tighten access to Poland’s lump-sum taxation system, known as ryczałt od przychodów ewidencjonowanych.
Under that system, eligible taxpayers pay income tax on recorded revenue, generally without deducting ordinary business expenses in the same way as under profit-based income-tax systems.
Different categories of activity are subject to different statutory rates.
The approved bill proposes reducing the relevant annual revenue threshold for eligibility from €2 million to €250,000.
That represents an 87.5% reduction in the threshold.
The change could affect sole traders and other taxpayers whose activities and revenue levels currently allow them to use lump-sum taxation.
Some higher-revenue businesses could lose access to that form of taxation in future years, depending on how the statutory eligibility conditions apply to their circumstances.
The bill also introduces a 17% rate on specified categories of recorded revenue exceeding an aggregate €300,000 threshold during a tax year.
The proposed 17% provision has a defined statutory scope and should not be described as a universal rate on all self-employed income above €300,000.
The €250,000 eligibility threshold and the €300,000 revenue-rate threshold also serve different functions.
The former concerns eligibility under the relevant annual revenue rules, while the latter concerns the application of a tax rate to specified revenue within the statutory framework.
The interaction between the two provisions will be particularly important for businesses whose revenue grows substantially during a tax year.
Unlike regular progressive PIT, lump-sum taxation is based on qualifying revenue rather than ordinary taxable profit.
Businesses should therefore not compare the marginal PIT bands directly with lump-sum rates without considering expenses, eligibility and applicable contribution rules.
What foreign professionals and international businesses should know
For foreign professionals working in Poland, the most relevant change is the proposed adjustment to the progressive income-tax scale.
Employees and other individuals whose income is taxed under that scale could benefit where their taxable annual income exceeds PLN 120,000.
The effect would depend on their tax residence, income classification, deductions and any applicable international tax arrangements.
The legislation does not establish that all foreign workers would receive the same tax reduction.
Likewise, not every self-employed professional in Poland is taxed using the progressive PIT scale.
Some use the flat-rate business income-tax system, while others use lump-sum taxation where eligible.
The revised progressive brackets would not automatically replace those alternative arrangements.
For international corporate groups, the removal of the proposed 22% corporate-tax provision is particularly significant.
The original September proposal raised the prospect of higher Polish corporate income-tax liabilities for specified large taxpayers.
That increase is not contained in the Sejm-approved text.
However, separate tax legislation and existing international tax obligations continue to apply.
The parliamentary decision should therefore be interpreted narrowly as the removal of a particular proposed change.
Legislation moves to Senate
The Senate’s legislative record confirms that the Sejm-approved bill was received on 23 October 2026 and referred to the Senate’s Budget and Public Finance Committee.
The Senate is scheduled to begin its next plenary sitting on 27 October.
Under the recorded timetable, the Senate’s deadline for considering the legislation is 22 November.
The legislation can still be amended during the remaining parliamentary process.
It must then complete the necessary constitutional steps, including presidential consideration and publication in the Journal of Laws, before its provisions can enter into force.
The currently approved text provides for commencement on 1 January 2027.
For employees and individuals taxed under the progressive scale, the main proposed benefit is an increase in the income thresholds before higher marginal rates apply.
For some high-income individuals and self-employed taxpayers, the solidarity-levy and lump-sum changes could instead increase liabilities or restrict access to existing tax arrangements.
For large companies, the immediate development is different from the original government proposal: the Sejm has removed the planned increase to the 22% corporate-tax rate.
The final financial consequences will depend on the legislation completing its remaining stages without further relevant changes.
