A Crypto Tax Guide for Poland

May 30•4 min read

With limited guidance from Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa (KAS), figuring out crypto tax in Poland is no easy feat. That’s why we’ve teamed up with crypto tax calculator Koinly to break down the basics of crypto taxation in Poland, including how crypto is taxed and should be filed.

Important: Koinly and Nexo do not offer tax advice. This article is not intended as financial advice or a personalized recommendation. Always consult a tax professional for guidance specific to your situation.

How is crypto taxed, and what constitutes a taxable event?

In Poland, crypto is taxed at a flat 19% on any gains from converting crypto to fiat currency (like PLN or EUR). Taxable events include:

  • Exchanging crypto for fiat

  • Using crypto to buy goods, services, or property

  • Settling debts with crypto

However, crypto-to-crypto trades are tax-free.

How much tax will you pay?

 There’s no separate Capital Gains Tax rate, crypto gains are taxed at the standard 19% rate.

How to calculate your crypto taxes

To calculate your capital gain or loss from a given transaction, use the following formula:

Capital Gain/Loss = Selling Price - Purchase Price

If you otherwise disposed of your crypto (for example, spending it on goods or services), then the selling price refers to the fair market value of your cryptocurrency at the time you disposed of it.

Conversely, if you otherwise acquired your crypto (for example, through an airdrop), as these are treated as non-taxable, in most instances, they have a zero cost basis unless you have allowed expenses directly related to the purchase or sale of the asset.

However, Poland has a very specific accounting method and reporting requirement for reporting crypto transactions.

Accounting method for crypto

KAS are quite clear that when it comes to reporting crypto – you’ll report all costs from crypto and all sales from crypto. Costs refers to all purchases of crypto and any allowable expenses, while all sales is fairly self-explanatory. All this needs to be aggregated and reported on an annual basis. Regardless of whether you have no income in a given year, you would still need to report any costs.

Effectively, Poland uses the aggregate costs method for accounting with regard to crypto taxation. Have in mind that this is different from FIFO (first in, first out), and FIFO is not mentioned in Poland’s official guidance on crypto taxation.

You can use the following formula to determine your taxable income from crypto.

Income from crypto sales = Total revenue from sales in the year – Tax-deductible costs in the year

If, in a given year, your expenses for acquiring virtual currencies exceed the income from selling them (or if you don’t generate any income from crypto sales that year), the excess costs can be carried forward to the next tax year. In the following year(s), you can treat this surplus as part of your regular tax-deductible costs, just like any new acquisition costs incurred during that year.

Only expenses directly related to the purchase and sale of virtual currencies can be included as tax-deductible costs.

You cannot include costs related to financing crypto purchases (such as loans or credits). Similarly, if you acquire virtual currencies through mining, expenses for mining equipment and electricity used for mining are not deductible. Costs from exchanging one virtual currency for another are also excluded from tax-deductible expenses.

Are different digital assets taxed differently?

KAS guidance is quite limited in this sense but does not differentiate tax treatment for different kinds of crypto assets, for example, NFTs, stablecoins, tokens, and so forth. As such, under the current guidance, it’s likely that all crypto assets are treated the same from a tax perspective. 

How are airdrops and forks taxed?

Again, the guidance from KAS is limited, but as KAS only treats conversions from crypto to PLN (or other fiat currencies) as taxable events, it’s generally understood that earning new tokens - such as through airdrops - would be treated as non-taxable events. However, it’s likely as you incurred no costs for these transactions, they would be treated with a zero cost basis.

How to report your crypto taxes

In Poland, you report your crypto costs and sales in your PIT-38 tax return between February 15 and April 30.

Final tips

  • Keep records of all transactions, including timestamps, values, and fees.

  • Consult a tax professional if you engage in complex trading or DeFi activities.

  • Use Koinly to automate calculations and ensure compliance.

📌 Start calculating your crypto taxes with Koinly today!

The information in this article is for general information only. It should not be taken as consulting professional advice from either Nexo or Koinly. Neither Nexo nor Koinly is a financial adviser. You should consider seeking independent legal, financial, taxation, or other advice to check how the website information relates to your unique circumstances.