Selling a flat in Poland: the 5-year rule, 19% tax on the gain and the housing exemption

If you sell a flat in Poland before the end of the fifth calendar year after the year you acquired it, the gain is taxed at 19%. After that, the sale is free of this income tax. For a flat bought from a developer, the prevailing view is that the clock starts in the year of the transfer deed, not the year you signed the developer agreement. You can also avoid some or all of the tax by spending the proceeds on your own housing within three years.

This note explains the timing rule, how the gain is calculated, the housing exemption, and what changes for the buyer. Several points carry a tax-review flag; treat this as information, not tax advice, and confirm your case with a tax adviser.

The five-year rule

The period is counted in whole calendar years, starting from the end of the year in which you acquired the flat. A sale is outside the 19% tax from 1 January of the sixth year.

Year of acquisition	Tax-free sale from
2021	1 January 2027
2022	1 January 2028
2023	1 January 2029
2024	1 January 2030
2025	1 January 2031
2026	1 January 2032

So a flat acquired in January and one acquired in December of the same year become tax-free on the same day. Timing the deed near the start or end of a year can make almost a year's difference.

When is a developer flat "acquired"?

The developer agreement (umowa deweloperska) only obliges the developer to transfer ownership later. You become the owner by the notarial deed that transfers ownership (umowa przenosząca własność), which follows the handover. The sources we reviewed, including a 2026 tax-office interpretation reported in the trade press, take the year of that transfer deed as the start of the clock. For example: developer agreement in 2020, transfer deed in February 2022, sale in June 2026. The sale is within the window; it would have been tax-free from January 2028.

Watch out: on the prevailing view, do not count from the developer agreement or from the day you got the keys; use the date on the transfer deed, and confirm this with a tax adviser. If your situation is unusual, for example you bought by assigning someone else's developer agreement, ask a tax adviser how the date is set.

How the tax is calculated

If you sell within the window, the tax is 19% of the gain, declared on the PIT-39 return for the year of sale.

The gain is broadly the sale price minus the documented costs of acquiring the flat and the documented costs of improving it during ownership. In practice this means keeping:

• the notarial deeds and the price paid;
• notary and court fee invoices;
• invoices for fit-out and other improvements.

Which items count as deductible costs, and the treatment of selling costs, should be confirmed with a tax adviser.

Example

All figures are assumptions.

• Transfer deed: 2024. Price paid: 500,000 zł. Purchase costs: 4,000 zł. Documented fit-out: 60,000 zł.
• Sale in 2026 for 640,000 zł.
• Gain: 640,000 − 500,000 − 4,000 − 60,000 = 76,000 zł.
• Tax at 19%: 14,440 zł, unless the housing exemption applies.

The own-housing exemption

The gain is exempt to the extent that you spend the sale proceeds on your own housing purposes within three years from the end of the tax year of the sale. The exemption is proportional:

Exempt part of the gain = gain × (amount spent on own housing ÷ sale proceeds)

Continuing the example: if you spend 320,000 zł of the 640,000 zł on a flat you will live in, half the gain is exempt. Taxable gain: 38,000 zł; tax: 7,220 zł.

Points to note:

• You still file PIT-39 for the year of sale, declaring the planned exemption.
• Spending after you file still counts, as long as it is within the three-year window.
• If you miss the deadline, you file a corrected return and pay the tax with interest.
• Which expenses count as "own housing purposes" (buying another flat, certain loan repayments, renovating your own home and so on) is set out in detail in the PIT Act. Check before you rely on a specific expense.

Selling before the transfer deed

You can transfer your rights under a developer agreement before completion, but the developer act limits this: it must be done by notarial deed, it can concern one flat, and you must not have made another such assignment in the previous three years, with exceptions for close family. The tax treatment of such an assignment is not the same as the sale of a flat you own; get tax advice first.

What changes for the buyer

• Buying from a developer: VAT is included in the price; no 2% PCC.
• Buying from you, a private seller: the buyer normally pays 2% PCC on the market value.
• In some cases a resale soon after the first transfer could raise a VAT question rather than PCC. If you are selling a flat you have barely used, especially as part of a business, ask a tax adviser.

Non-residents

A gain on a Polish flat is Polish-source income, so it can be taxed in Poland even if you live elsewhere. Your home country may also tax it, with relief under a tax treaty where one exists. Poland and Ukraine, for example, have such a treaty in force since 1994. We have not summarised how each treaty divides taxing rights; ask an adviser in both countries.

Related topics

If the flat still has a mortgage, see selling a flat with a mortgage. Ongoing taxes while you own are covered in taxes when buying and owning a flat, and rental tax in renting out a new flat. More questions are answered in investing and renting: questions and answers.

Check before you sell

• What is the date on your transfer deed, and in which year does the five-year window end?
• Do you have the deeds and invoices to prove purchase and improvement costs?
• Will you spend the proceeds on your own housing within three years?
• Is the buyer aware they will pay 2% PCC?
• If you live abroad, how will your home country treat the gain?