PIT-8C information, a broker report, PIT-38 submission and tax payment are different records. This guide explains the Polish PIT-38 form for 2025; for another year, use its applicable version. Start with the instrument and actual activity, then reconcile all relevant revenue, costs and deductions before entering fields.

Who files PIT-38 in Poland, and by when?

For a Polish private investor’s qualifying Article 30b(1) derivatives, PIT-38 applies 19% to the relevant base. Transactions occurring in business activity require the Article 30b(4) assessment. For 2025 the ordinary filing and payment deadline was 30 April 2026. Other years use the applicable deadline and non-working-day rules; own-account capital does not alone determine the regime.

This is a separate return. Capital income is not combined with employment income reported on PIT-37, nor with business income on PIT-36. The tax-free allowance and the progressive scale do not apply to it, you cannot file it jointly with a spouse, and child relief cannot be deducted from it. If you also trade virtual currencies, they appear on the same form but in a separate part: that is a distinct source, and a loss in one bucket does not reduce income in the other.

Polish broker: PIT-8C does not file the return for you

Check whether the actual brokerage entity supplies PIT-8C and reconcile its revenue and costs. The statutory deadlines for delivery to the tax authority and to the taxpayer are distinct; do not assume that copies are sent to both on the same date. Use the deadlines applicable to the tax year and retain your own records.

PIT-8C is information, not itself a taxpayer return. Check the PIT-38 prepared in Twój e-PIT. For tax year 2025, a return containing exclusively PIT-8C revenue and costs is automatically accepted on 30 April 2026 if it was not accepted, rejected or replaced by another return. Other revenue or costs require a complete own filing; retrieve the filed document and UPO.

The 2025 form map

For the assumed ordinary Part C/D instrument settlement, positions 20/21 contain the appropriate PIT-8C revenue and costs, including eligible additional costs; 22/23 contain other relevant amounts. Current income or loss is 28/29. Prior-loss deduction is 30, followed by base, rate, calculated tax, eligible foreign tax and tax due in 31–35. This abbreviated map excludes special exemptions. Part E concerns virtual currencies, not a CFD loss.

Assume PLN 50,000 properly established revenue, PLN 42,000 eligible costs and a permitted PLN 2,000 prior-loss deduction: income is PLN 8,000, base PLN 6,000 and tax at 19% PLN 1,140. No foreign tax or other items are assumed. A prior loss reduces the income base, not the tax directly.

PLN 800 paid does not mean PLN 800 deducted

After confirming eligibility, you must still apply the deduction cap. This hypothetical example uses foreign income as a proportion of the total income covered by this calculation.

Scroll sideways to see the full diagram

Cap on the foreign tax deductionArticle 30b(1) income is PLN 7,000 in Poland and PLN 3,000 in one foreign state. Nineteen percent of PLN 10,000 is PLN 1,900. The deduction cap is 1,900 times 3,000 divided by 10,000, or PLN 570. Eligible foreign tax actually paid is PLN 800, exceeding the cap by PLN 230, so PLN 1,330 Polish tax remains.TAX PAID AND THE CAPForeign tax paid: PLN 800PLN 570 deductedPLN 230 over capTotal income: PLN 10,000PLN 7,000 in PolandPLN 3,000 abroadTax before deduction: PLN 1,900Cap: 1,900 × 3,000 / 10,000 = PLN 570Remaining: 1,900 − 570 = PLN 1,330

Polish resident, tax year 2025, private Article 30b(1) income reported on PIT-38: PLN 7,000 in Poland and PLN 3,000 in one foreign state. Income is correctly established after costs and PLN conversion. No other items, prior-year losses or deductions. The applicable treaty, income source and Article 30b(5a) deduction eligibility have already been confirmed; eligible foreign tax of PLN 800 was actually paid and correctly converted to PLN. The document MF: PIT-38 brochure for 2025 confirms that Part D, field 34 of the 2025 brochure gives a proportional cap on foreign tax actually paid for Article 30b(1) income.

The upper bar divides tax paid; the lower bar divides income. These are different amounts and scales.

Polish tax before deduction is PLN 1,900. Foreign income represents 30%, giving a PLN 570 cap. Deduct the lower amount: PLN 570, not all PLN 800 paid. This calculation leaves PLN 1,330. The PLN 230 above the cap does not automatically become a refund or a future-year deduction. A foreign broker's address alone does not establish the assumed eligibility conditions.

Foreign broker: the whole calculation is yours

If the actual brokerage entity does not provide PIT-8C, calculate the relevant revenue and eligible costs from your records. The broker brand or foreign address does not alone establish Polish reporting obligations or the country of the income source.

  1. Obtain full settlement history, fees, financing and corrections for every relevant account, not only closed positions. Identify repeated reports and amounts already included.
  2. For each revenue and cost, retain the source amount, currency, governing event and appropriate tax date before conversion.
  3. Convert foreign-currency amounts using the average NBP rate from the last working day preceding the relevant revenue or cost event. Identify that event correctly; do not assume it must differ from the trade date or substitute the broker conversion rate.
  4. Total revenue and costs separately, then carry the result into the relevant part of the return as income from the disposal of derivative financial instruments.
  5. Determine whether income is earned abroad under applicable law and any treaty before completing PIT/ZG. The foreign address of the broker alone does not establish that classification.

A worksheet can organize the records, but the number of positions does not establish a preparation time or make one software tool indispensable. Keep the source amounts and checks. Determine the relevant retention period from the tax-payment deadline and statutory events, including any suspension or interruption; an automatic five-calendar-year disposal rule is unsafe.

What counts as revenue, and what counts as a cost?

For private derivative instruments, the MF brochure identifies realization of the rights as the relevant revenue event. Examine the instrument and settlement facts: closing a contract may realize rights, but a year-end open position can also have separate taxable settlements. Account withdrawals or the year-end balance do not themselves determine revenue.

Establish eligible costs connected with the reported instrument revenue and retain supporting documents. Broker commissions and transaction charges require correct treatment; software, servers, data, courses or household spending are not automatically deductible merely because they support trading. Avoid counting spread separately when execution prices already include it.

Sum before the form’s rounding steps

In a hypothetical 2025 model, ten correctly determined PLN 0.49 income amounts total PLN 4.90. Assume no other entries, prior losses or foreign credit. Rounding the aggregate base gives PLN 5; 19% produces PLN 0.95 calculated tax, rounded to PLN 1 tax due. Rounding every individual entry to zero first would give an incorrect zero result. Keep the working amounts; the brochure specifies separate rounding for base field 31 and tax-due field 35.

How do you settle a loss from earlier years?

Track each eligible instrument loss for the five tax years following its original year. Apply the permitted annual 50% route or the one-off amount up to PLN 5 million, with the remaining amount subject to its limits and window. There must be sufficient relevant income. Separately taxed dividends, interest and virtual-currency income cannot freely absorb a private CFD loss.

A prior-year loss must be established and reported in the return for its origin year before it is used. If that return was missing or incomplete, examine a late original filing or a permitted correction within the applicable procedural rules. The missed initial deadline does not by itself prove the loss is irrecoverably forfeited, and repairing the filing does not extend the five-year use window.

For an automatically accepted 2025 return, MF describes a separate tax-payment notice and seven days from receipt to pay. This does not grant an elective extension for every self-filed return. Keep UPO and payment confirmation separately. If qualifying combined income exceeds the Article 30h threshold after permitted reductions, assess the separate solidarity levy and DSF-1 rather than assuming PIT-38 is the only obligation.

Myths that can cost you money

  • "A foreign account automatically requires ORD-U." Article 82 defines the reporting entities and legal scope. Assess any actual business or other relevant status separately; a foreign account alone does not establish this obligation for a private investor.
  • "I received PIT-8C, so everything is complete." PIT-8C is information. Reconcile any prepared and filed PIT-38, including an automatically accepted return, and add data not covered by that information through the correct filing procedure.
  • "On top of the tax I will also pay a health contribution." Income settled on PIT-38 is neither business income nor income from a contract, so in itself it does not trigger a contribution obligation. Your insurance title as a registered unemployed person is a different question — covered in the article on whether forex gains affect unemployed status and health insurance.
  • "I will convert everything at the rate from the trade date." The rule is the average NBP rate from the last working day preceding the day the revenue arose or the cost was incurred. Across hundreds of positions that difference genuinely shifts the tax base.
  • "Every brokerage transaction is exempt from PCC." A typical cash-settled CFD, actual currency sale, instrument-right sale and separate financing loan are different acts. See whether forex is subject to transaction tax in Poland for the relevant Polish bases.

Check filing, correction and payment

  1. Check documents for the actual contracting entity. Reconcile any PIT-8C with complete settlements, fees, corrections and the prepared return. Record the reporting period and scope rather than inferring them from a Polish or foreign brand.
  2. Build an NBP conversion worksheet. Include the original currency, amount, relevant revenue or cost event, preceding-working-day rate and PLN amount. Recheck the tax-year form, reporting rules and template assumptions each year.
  3. Reconcile the PIT-8C figures against your own transaction history. Compare the totals of revenue and costs from the broker's information with what your own summary produced. Any discrepancy is far easier to explain now than after a letter arrives from the tax office.
  4. Establish each eligible loss in its original year. If records or a return are incomplete, assess a permitted correction or late first filing. Track unused amounts, source restrictions and the remaining five-year window; repairing the record does not restart it.
  5. Book a consultation if your situation is unusual. Several accounts, a move abroad during the year, or an unusual fee structure at your broker are all reasons to ask a tax adviser, or to apply to the National Revenue Information service for an individual ruling, rather than guessing your way through the form.