Poland: R&D tax deduction in Poland

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Poland: R&D tax deduction in Poland

intl-updates-small.jpg
dziedzic.jpg
tylenda.jpg

Monika Marta Dziedzic

Aleksandra Tylenda

The new easier application and higher amount of tax relief for research and development (R&D) is now available under the Polish tax system.

R&D is defined as a creative activity including scientific studies and development works. The R&D qualifying for tax deduction includes, not only traditional scientific studies, but also development works such as combining existing knowledge to improve manufacturing processes, increase efficiency or improve the quality of products or services, etc. Therefore, R&D relief is potentially available to all businesses that carry out improvements – it is not required to have a specific R&D department or operate in a special business sector.

The R&D tax relief provides a reduction of the corporate or personal profits by:

  • 50% of wages and social contributions of employees employed to carry out R&D (irrespective of the size of the company); and

  • 50% for small and medium size enterprises or 30% for larger ones, in the case of:

  • purchase of commodities and raw materials;

  • purchase of expert opinions, research and similar activities;

  • payments for use of research equipment;

  • depreciation of intangible assets and fixed assets, excluding passenger cars, buildings and constructions; and

  • payments for patent rights, protection rights for utility model, registration of the industrial design. However, for large companies the deduction of this last category of costs is not available.

R&D tax relief is available if :

  • The R&D incurred qualified costs that are not refundable;

  • The entrepreneur does not carry out business activity within a special economic zone in a given tax year;

  • R&D costs are recorded separately in tax accounting books; and

  • The entrepreneur concluded an agreement with a scientific unit (this requirement refers only to expenditure incurred on basic research defined as original research, experimental or theoretical works, undertaken mainly to acquire new knowledge without any direct commercial application or use in view).

R&D deductions are made in the tax return for the tax year in which the qualified R&D costs were incurred. If the taxpayer suffers a tax loss or if the taxpayer's income is lower than the amount of allowed deduction, the deductions – in the entire amount or in the remaining part – can be made in the tax returns for six tax years following the year in which the taxpayer incurred the qualified costs. Taxpayers starting their business activity and not able to make the deduction (due to low income or lack of income) may claim a cash incentive if certain requirements are met.

Monika Marta Dziedzic (monika.dziedzic@mddp.pl) and Aleksandra Tylenda (aleksandra.tylenda@mddp.pl)

MDDP, Poland

Tel: +48 22 322 68 88

Website: www.mddp.pl

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The US president also unveiled a new 50% levy on copper imports; in other news, a UK wealth tax proposal has been criticised by the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Wim Wuyts, who had been head of the specialist tax network since 2017, is moving on to a new role with WTS’s Belgian member firm
MNEs are increasingly using algorithmic tools in TP. Sahasranshu Dash argues that data ethics should therefore plug directly into the TP design process
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales also queried whether HMRC resources could be better spent scrutinising larger entities
Grant Thornton’s Austria tax head likens his practice to an escape room, shares his football coaching ambitions, and explains why tax is cool
Awards
ITR is delighted to reveal all the shortlisted nominees for the 2025 EMEA Tax Awards
Awards
ITR is delighted to reveal all the shortlisted nominees for the 2025 Asia-Pacific Tax Awards
The fates of pillars one and two hang in the balance after the US successfully threw its weight around in G7 and Canadian negotiations
Rafael Tena tells ITR about the ‘crazy’ Mexican market, ditching the hourly rate, and refusing to grow his fledgling firm in an ‘unstructured way’
It should be easy for advisers to be transparent about costs, Brown Rudnick partner Matthew Sharp said in response to exclusive ITR in-house data
Gift this article