PIT-8C from a broker — what you get and how to file

Krzysztof traded through two accounts in parallel during 2025 — XTB under a Polish KNF licence and Interactive Brokers Ireland. In late February 2026 his XTB panel showed a ready-made PIT-8C with revenue and cost figures calculated. From Interactive Brokers nothing arrived, because no foreign broker is obliged to issue a Polish tax form. These are two different accounting worlds, and the end of April is a hard deadline for both. In this article I explain how PIT-8C works, why the absence of one from an offshore broker does not exempt you from the 19 percent Belka tax, and how to calculate income yourself when trades settle in dollars or euros.

What PIT-8C is and who issues it

PIT-8C is an information return on capital income — a form that a Polish broker or brokerage house sends once a year both to the taxpayer and to the tax office. The obligation flows from article 39 paragraph 3 of the Polish Personal Income Tax Act of 26 July 1991. The deadline is firm: by the end of February of the year following the tax year, so an XTB client for 2025 receives PIT-8C no later than 28 February 2026.

The form holds two key figures in the financial-instruments section: total revenue (gains from closed trades) and total cost of obtaining revenue (losses on closed trades plus broker-recognised commissions). The difference between them is the income on which 19 percent tax is calculated when filing PIT-38 by 30 April.

Foreign brokers do not issue PIT-8C because they are not subject to Polish payer rules. Saxo Bank in Denmark, IG with an FCA licence, IC Markets in Australia, Interactive Brokers Ireland — all answer only to their domestic regulators. A Polish tax resident must calculate income from each foreign account independently and enter it into PIT-38, working from broker statements and the NBP rate archive.

How to read a Polish PIT-8C correctly

A Polish broker delivers PIT-8C through the client panel as a PDF and an XML file matching the Ministry of Finance schema. The XML imports directly into the Twój e-PIT service, but loading the file is only half the work — the numbers should be reconciled with your own trade journal.

Two traps recur every year. First: the broker reports closed positions only, so a trade carried over into 2026 will not appear on PIT-8C for 2025 even though its unrealised result shows on the account. Second: costs the broker does not know about (courses, analytical tools, virtual private servers) will not be included. You may add them in PIT-38, but you need invoices in your name with a clear link to trading activity.

PIT-8C captures only the income from the specific account it covers. If you keep a second account at mBank Brokerage or Dom Maklerski BOŚ alongside XTB, you receive several separate forms and combine them in a single PIT-38. There is one annual return, no matter how many brokers you use.

Foreign brokers — what to do without a PIT-8C

No PIT-8C does not mean no Polish tax. A Polish resident pays 19 percent on all capital income earned anywhere in the world, regardless of whether the intermediary had a reporting duty to the Polish administration. The principle comes from article 30b of the PIT Act and has been confirmed many times in interpretations issued by Krajowa Informacja Skarbowa.

"Income earned by a Polish tax resident from the disposal of financial instruments is taxed at the 19 percent personal income tax rate, irrespective of the country of the financial intermediary." — Ministerstwo Finansów, PIT-38 information booklet: income from capital instruments, podatki.gov.pl, 2024.

After the year ends you download the broker's annual statement with all closed trades — IG calls it the Statement of Account, IC Markets the Annual Report, Interactive Brokers the Activity Statement. The file (CSV or PDF) lists opening and closing dates, settlement currency, the result in account currency, and commissions. For currency CFDs the settlement currency is usually the US dollar or the euro — never the Polish zloty.

Each closed trade must be converted into zlotys at the NBP average reference rate from the day preceding the revenue or cost event — the requirement set by article 11a paragraphs 1 and 2 of the PIT Act. For a profit the relevant day is when the winning trade closes; for a loss it is when the losing trade closes. Using one rate for the whole year is a classic mistake the tax office can challenge years later.

Combining a Polish PIT-8C with your own spreadsheet

A trader combining a Polish broker with a foreign one has the most work at year end. Polish figures from PIT-8C enter PIT-38 unchanged. Everything from the foreign broker has to be translated into zlotys, added to the Polish totals, and entered as a single sum in one line.

The practical method: in one spreadsheet list every closed foreign trade (closing date, currency, result in that currency, NBP rate from the day before closing, result in zlotys). Add those totals to the PIT-8C totals — only the combined figure enters the return. The shortcut of a single December rate does not match the statute and may need defending under audit.

The consequences of failing to declare a foreign account are heavier today than a decade ago. Poland is party to the multilateral CRS (Common Reporting Standard) agreement and exchanges automatic information about resident account balances with member states. The tax office may receive data on your Interactive Brokers account before you even start preparing PIT-38. Sanctions follow from article 56 paragraph 1 of the Polish Fiscal Penal Code — a fine plus outstanding tax with interest.

Common mistakes when filing with PIT-8C

After fifteen years of watching Polish retail traders settle with the tax office, the same errors return every spring. All cost money, several also cost nerves during the audit that follows.

1. Assuming that no PIT-8C means no tax. The obligation exists regardless of whether the broker reports. Anyone trading through a broker outside Poland has to calculate and pay the tax themselves.
2. Converting the whole year at a single December rate. The statute requires the NBP rate from the day before each specific event — a separate conversion per closed trade. A single rate may be rejected on review.
3. Skipping additional costs. A TradingView subscription, a virtual private server, an exchange data feed all qualify as costs of obtaining revenue, provided you keep an invoice in your name and can demonstrate the link to trading.
4. Mixing spot positions with CFDs. Real shares and CFDs on those shares both appear on PIT-8C, but as different instrument categories. Losses cannot be offset against income from other sources.
5. Throwing away statements after filing PIT-38. The tax office may request documents up to five years back from the end of the year in which the payment deadline fell. A 2025 statement must remain at hand until the end of 2031.

What to do tomorrow

1. Download every annual statement from your brokers for 2025. From the Polish broker take PIT-8C in both PDF and XML, from each foreign broker take the full annual statement in CSV together with a separate summary of commissions and fees. Save everything in a single dated folder per account.
2. Build a spreadsheet listing every closed foreign trade. Use columns for closing date, account currency, result in that currency, NBP rate from the day before closing, and result in zlotys. Pull the historical rates from the taxes and records section of ForexMechanics.com or the NBP Table A archive instead of retyping rates from screenshots.
3. Reconcile the Polish broker PIT-8C against your own trade log. Export the trading platform history to CSV and compare gain and loss totals with the PIT-8C figures. If the difference exceeds one percent, file a complaint with the broker before 30 March — later corrections require additional correspondence with the tax office.
4. File PIT-38 by 30 April 2026 and keep the copies. Use Twój e-PIT on podatki.gov.pl, import the Polish broker PIT-8C and enter the foreign broker figures manually in the relevant line. Preserve the official confirmation of delivery (UPO) with the statements in a folder that will survive five years.
5. Consult a tax adviser when income exceeds 100,000 zlotys or three accounts. An hour with a qualified adviser costs 200–400 zlotys, and avoiding one fiscal penalty pays the cost back many times. Choose someone with retail traders in the portfolio — the rules on financial instruments are not what most small-town offices handle daily.

Related reading: how to settle forex taxes in Poland — full PIT-38 guide for beginners; tax residency for a forex trader — when moving abroad changes your filing; PIT-38 in Poland — form details and deadlines.