Renting out a new-build flat in Poland: lease types, flat-rate tax and landlord duties

If you are a Polish tax resident and let a new flat in Poland as a private person, you pay a flat-rate tax on the rent you receive: 8.5% up to 100,000 zł a year and 12.5% above that, with no deduction for costs. You choose the type of lease, and the choice matters mostly for how easily you can end it. Before the first tenant moves in, a new-build flat also has to be handed over, fitted out and registered for local tax.

This note covers the lease options, the tax rules for private landlords in 2026, the short-term rental changes, and practical points specific to new flats. It is information, not legal or tax advice; several points are flagged for checking.

From handover to first tenant

A flat bought from a developer usually needs several steps before it can be let:

1. Handover and transfer deed. You receive the keys at the handover (odbiór) and become the owner by the transfer deed. Defects you list in the handover protocol must be answered within 14 days and, if accepted, fixed within 30 days. See the handover checklist.
2. Fit-out. A flat sold in shell-and-core condition (stan deweloperski) needs finishing before anyone can live in it, and the finishing scope is whatever the contract's annex says. Budget for it early; see shell-and-core or turnkey.
3. Local tax. File the property tax form with the municipality within 14 days of the event that makes you liable.
4. Building rules. Read the housing community's rules (wspólnota mieszkaniowa), especially if you plan short stays.

Types of lease

Polish law offers three forms of residential lease. Their details sit in the tenant protection act, and sources we checked differ on some formal requirements, so have the contract reviewed by a lawyer.

	Ordinary lease (najem zwykły)	Occasional lease (najem okazjonalny)	Institutional lease (najem instytucjonalny)
Landlord	Anyone	A private person not renting as a business	A business letting flats
Term	Fixed or open-ended	Fixed, up to 10 years	Fixed, may exceed 10 years
Tenant's notarial statement of submission to eviction	No	Yes	Yes
Tenant must name an address to move to	No	Yes	No
Report to the tax office	Not required by the lease form	Yes, by the landlord	Not covered here
Ease of ending it	Hardest: strong tenant protection	Easier, thanks to the tenant's statement	Easier, thanks to the tenant's statement

For a private landlord, the occasional lease is designed to make it easier to recover the flat if a tenant does not leave at the end. The tenant's statement of submission to enforcement is made before a notary, so agree in advance who pays that notary fee.

Tax on private rental in 2026

The only form: flat-rate tax on revenue

Since 2023 private rental, meaning letting outside a registered business, is taxed only by the flat-rate tax on recorded revenue (ryczałt od przychodów ewidencjonowanych):

• 8.5% of revenue up to 100,000 zł a year;
• 12.5% on revenue above 100,000 zł;
• no deduction of costs such as repairs, depreciation, community charges or loan interest;
• return: PIT-28.

In the sources we checked, the progressive scale (12% and 32%) and the 30,000 zł tax-free amount do not apply to this flat-rate revenue. Rental run through a sole proprietorship or company follows different rules.

What counts as revenue

• Rent you receive.
• Not utilities and building charges, if the lease puts them on the tenant.
• Not the deposit, unless you keep it to cover unpaid rent; then that part becomes rental revenue.

Spouses

Spouses in a community of property normally each declare half of the rent. If one spouse files a written declaration, that spouse declares everything, and the 12.5% rate starts only above 200,000 zł. The declaration is due by the 20th of the month after the first rental income of the year (by year-end if the first income is in December) and stays valid until withdrawn. Couples with separate property cannot use the 200,000 zł threshold.

Deadlines

What	When
Monthly tax payment	By the 20th of the following month (for December: by 20 January)
Quarterly option	Available instead of monthly
PIT-28 annual return	15 February to 30 April of the next year
Final tax due	30 April

According to the Ministry of Finance, private rental needs no separate notice of choosing the flat-rate tax, since it is the only option (confirm with a tax adviser). You file the PIT-28 with the tax office for your place of residence, not where the flat is. As a worked example: monthly rent 3,200 zł, so 38,400 zł a year, gives 3,264 zł of tax at 8.5%, regardless of what you spent on the flat.

Watch out: if you are not a Polish tax resident, the rent is still Polish-source income and taxable in Poland. Whether a non-resident can use the 8.5%/12.5% flat-rate tax, and which tax office is competent, is not clearly settled in the sources we checked. Get a tax adviser's view or a written tax ruling before you let.

Short-term rental

An EU regulation on short-term rental data (Regulation 2024/1028) applies from 20 May 2026. Poland's implementing act was passed by the Sejm on 8 October 2026; as of early November 2026 its passage through the Senate and signature should be checked. As reported, it creates a central register with an ID number that must appear in listings, fines of up to 50,000 zł, and, from 1 January 2028, powers for housing communities to ban short stays in a building and for municipalities to set suspension zones.

If you buy in a new development with short-term letting in mind, ask whether the community rules already restrict it, and expect registration duties once the law is in force.

Ongoing costs to plan for

• Property tax: up to 1.25 zł per m² a year in 2026 (1.29 zł in 2027), set by the municipality.
• Building charges: you owe them as owner; the lease can pass them, and utilities, to the tenant, in which case they are not your rental revenue.
• Wear and tear between tenants, and repairs once the developer's 5-year liability for defects (rękojmia) ends.
• Empty months between tenants.

How these affect your return is worked through in rental yield: how to calculate it. When you eventually sell, separate rules apply; see selling a flat: tax and the 5-year rule.

Check before you let

• Has the flat been formally handed over and are any defects resolved?
• Which lease form will you use, and has a lawyer checked the contract?
• Does the lease state who pays utilities and building charges?
• Have you set up monthly or quarterly flat-rate tax payments?
• If you live abroad, have you confirmed how and where you will be taxed?