Taxes when buying and owning a new flat in Poland: VAT, PCC, property tax, rent and sale

When you buy a new flat from a developer in Poland, the main tax is VAT, and it is already inside the price you see. You normally pay no 2% transaction tax (PCC), which applies on the second-hand market instead. Once you own the flat, the regular tax is a modest annual property tax paid to the municipality; rent and a later sale are taxed separately.

Below is what applies at each stage, as of November 2026. Several points depend on interpretation and are marked as such. This is general information, not tax advice.

Overview

Stage	Tax	Who pays	Typical effect
Purchase from a developer	VAT (8% or 23%)	Included in the developer's price	No separate payment by the buyer
Purchase from a developer	PCC	Usually not due	6% only for the 6th and further flat in one building or plot
Notary and court	VAT on notary fee; court fees are fees, not tax	Buyer (and developer for half of the developer-agreement costs)	Hundreds to a few thousand złoty
Ownership	Property tax (podatek od nieruchomości)	Owner	Up to 1.25 zł per m² a year in 2026
Renting out	Flat-rate tax on rent (ryczałt)	Owner	8.5% of rent up to 100,000 zł a year
Selling within about 5 years	19% income tax on the gain	Seller	Can be reduced by spending on own housing

When you buy

VAT is in the price

A developer's sale is a VAT sale. The price in the developer agreement already includes VAT, and since July 2025 developers must show prices including VAT on their own websites. You do not add VAT on top.

The rate depends on size:

• 8% applies to flats of up to 150 m² of usable area that fall within the "social housing programme" definition in the VAT Act.
• For a larger flat, the reduced rate applies only to the part of the price that matches the first 150 m²; the rest is taxed at 23%.
• A parking space or garage sold as a separate commercial unit (lokal użytkowy) is likely taxed at 23%. If it is sold as part of the flat or as an appurtenant room, the treatment may differ. Check the contract.

The VAT Act now names 7% and 22% as the base rates, but a transitional rule keeps 8% and 23% in force while Poland's public debt is above a set threshold. As of November 2026 the effective rates remain 8% and 23%. Confirm with a tax adviser if the exact rate matters to your calculation.

PCC: not on a normal developer purchase

The tax on civil-law transactions (podatek od czynności cywilnoprawnych, PCC) does not apply when you buy a flat from a developer in a VAT-taxed sale. On the second-hand market, by contrast, the buyer generally pays 2%.

Watch out: a newer rule charges 6% PCC to a buyer who acquires a 6th or further VAT-taxed flat in the same building or on the same plot. It targets bulk purchases. If you plan to buy several flats in one development, check with a tax adviser when this rule applies.

Whether any PCC is due on the bank mortgage is a question to put to the notary when the mortgage deed is prepared.

Notary and court costs

These are fees rather than taxes, but they appear on the same bill. The notary's fee is capped by regulation, and VAT is added to it. For a developer purchase there are two deeds, each capped at half the base rate, and the costs connected with the developer agreement are split equally between you and the developer by law. Court fees for land-register entries are fixed amounts, for example 200 zł for entering ownership or a mortgage. Our guide to the costs of buying from a developer works through the numbers, and you can try your own price in /en/toolbox/buying-costs.

While you own the flat

Property tax

Each municipality (gmina) sets its own property tax rate, up to a national maximum:

• 2026: up to 1.25 zł per m² of usable area a year for residential property;
• 2027: up to 1.29 zł per m².

For a 55 m² flat at the 2026 maximum, that is about 69 zł a year. A municipality may set a lower rate, so check the resolution of the one where the flat is.

The duty starts on the first day of the month after the event that makes you liable, and a private owner must file a form with the municipality within 14 days of that event. Whether the event is the handover of keys or the transfer deed is not fully settled for developer flats; ask your municipality which date it uses. There is a separate rule for newly built buildings, under which the tax starts on 1 January of the year after completion. How it applies to a flat bought in the same year should also be checked locally.

Rent

If you let the flat as a private person, the only form of taxation since 2023 is a flat-rate tax on recorded revenue (ryczałt od przychodów ewidencjonowanych): 8.5% of rent up to 100,000 zł a year and 12.5% above that, with no deduction of costs. You file a PIT-28 return. Rental through a business follows different rules. Details, deadlines and the rules for spouses are in renting out a new flat.

When you sell

If you sell before the end of the fifth calendar year after the year you acquired the flat, the gain is taxed at 19% and declared on PIT-39. For a developer flat, the prevailing view is that the clock starts from the transfer deed, not the developer agreement. The gain can be exempt to the extent you spend the proceeds on your own housing within three years. See selling a flat: tax and the 5-year rule.

Tax residence and foreign owners

Your tax position depends on tax residence, not citizenship. You are generally a Polish tax resident if your centre of personal or economic interests is in Poland, or if you stay more than 183 days in a tax year. Residents are taxed in Poland on worldwide income; non-residents only on income from Polish sources, which includes rent from a Polish flat and a gain on its sale.

Watch out: whether a non-resident landlord can use the 8.5%/12.5% flat-rate tax, and where they file, is not clearly answered by the sources we checked. If you live abroad and plan to let the flat, get a tax adviser's opinion or a written tax ruling (interpretacja indywidualna) first.

Poland has double tax treaties, for example with Ukraine. A treaty usually decides how the other country gives relief, and in general it does not remove Polish tax on Polish-source rent (confirm with a tax adviser). We have not summarised which country taxes what under each treaty.

What does not apply to a buyer

• There is no separate VAT payment by a private buyer.
• There is no PCC on a standard developer purchase (with the 6th-flat exception above).
• The "housing relief" (ulga mieszkaniowa) you may read about is a seller's relief on a sale gain, not a buyer's deduction.

Check before you sign

• Is the flat at or under 150 m²? If not, how is VAT split in the price?
• Is the parking space a separate unit, and at what VAT rate is it priced?
• Are you buying more than five flats in the same building or plot?
• Which municipality will tax the flat, and from which date?
• If you live outside Poland, have you checked how future rent will be taxed?