Depreciation in Poland 2026: PLN 10,000, one-off write-offs, cars

In Poland, an asset with an initial value of up to PLN 10,000 can be expensed in the month it is put into use. A more expensive fixed asset is normally depreciated on a straight-line basis from the month after it is entered in the register, but a business can write it off at once: up to PLN 100,000 a year (factory-new assets in groups 3–6 and 8) or up to PLN 213,000 in 2026 as de minimis aid (small taxpayers and businesses in their first year).

Law as of 15 October 2026.

The rules are the same for a sp. z o.o. (CIT Act) and for a sole trader (JDG) on the tax scale or flat tax (PIT Act). Below we cite the CIT Act. The PIT equivalents are art. 22a–22o and art. 23; for example, art. 16k of the CIT Act corresponds to art. 22k of the PIT Act.

Limits for 2026 and 2027

Euro amounts are converted at the NBP average rate of the first working day of October of the previous year and rounded to PLN 1,000. For 2026 that is PLN 4.2586 from 1 October 2025; for 2027 it is PLN 4.3770 from 1 October 2026. The 2027 amounts are calculated with this formula under the act as it stands.

You can calculate your own purchase, the write-off schedule and the choice between methods in the depreciation calculator.

What counts as a fixed asset

A fixed asset (środek trwały) is an item the business owns, complete and fit for use on the day it is put into use, expected to be used for more than a year and used in the business (art. 16a(1)). This covers buildings and premises, machinery, equipment, means of transport and other items such as furniture. Software licences, copyrights and know-how are intangible assets (wartości niematerialne i prawne), depreciated under similar rules (art. 16b).

Land, residential buildings and flats, works of art and assets not used because the business is suspended are not depreciated (art. 16c). So the cost of buying a flat does not become a tax expense through depreciation, even if the company rents it out.

Initial value: net or gross

The limits apply to the initial value (wartość początkowa). For a purchase this is the acquisition price: the amount due to the seller plus costs up to the day the asset is put into use, such as transport, assembly, software installation, commissions and interest (art. 16g(3)). VAT is excluded only if you can deduct it.

• Active VAT payer with full deduction: the net amount counts.
• VAT-exempt business: the gross amount counts, because VAT becomes part of the price.
• Partial VAT deduction, for example on a car: the non-deducted part of VAT increases the initial value.

A laptop costing PLN 12,300 gross bought by an active VAT payer has an initial value of PLN 10,000 and stays within the threshold. The same laptop in a VAT-exempt business has a value of PLN 12,300 and must be depreciated or written off under a one-off scheme.

Up to PLN 10,000: expense at once

When the initial value does not exceed PLN 10,000, you have three options:

1. expense it in the month it is put into use, without depreciation (art. 16d(1));
2. make a one-off depreciation write-off in the month it is put into use or in the following month (art. 16f(3));
3. depreciate it at the normal rates.

These purchases do not use up the de minimis limit (art. 16k(9)).

Above PLN 10,000: straight-line depreciation

You enter the fixed asset in the register no later than in the month it is put into use (art. 16d(2)). Depreciation starts in the month after the entry and ends when the write-offs equal the initial value (art. 16h(1)(1)). You can make the write-offs monthly, quarterly or once at the end of the year (art. 16h(4)).

The annual write-off is the initial value times the rate from the list of annual depreciation rates (annex 1 to the CIT Act, art. 16i(1)).

Used assets: individual rate

An asset used by someone else for at least 6 months before you bought it, entered in your register for the first time, can be depreciated faster (art. 16j(1) and (2)). The shortest periods:

• groups 3–6 and 8: 24 months for a value up to PLN 25,000, 36 months up to PLN 50,000, 60 months above;
• means of transport, including passenger cars: 30 months.

Declining-balance method

Machinery and equipment in groups 3–6 and 8 and means of transport other than passenger cars can be depreciated in the first year at a rate raised by a factor of up to 2.0, and in later years from the value reduced by previous write-offs. When that write-off falls below the straight-line amount, you switch back to straight-line (art. 16k(1)). You choose the method before the first write-off and keep it to the end (art. 16h(2)).

One-off depreciation above PLN 10,000

The act offers two routes. For the same fixed asset you choose one of them (art. 16k(20)).

You make the one-off write-off no earlier than in the month of entry in the register (art. 16k(8)). If the limit does not cover the whole value, you depreciate the rest from the next tax year, and the total write-offs cannot exceed the initial value.

The de minimis route is not available to a new company formed by transformation, merger or division, or to a company into which a shareholder contributed their existing business or its assets worth at least EUR 10,000 (art. 16k(11)). Group 7 is means of transport, so cars do not qualify for the PLN 100,000 write-off, and passenger cars are also excluded from de minimis.

Passenger cars: the depreciation cap

You depreciate a passenger car from its full initial value, but only the part of each write-off that relates to the value up to the cap is a tax expense (art. 16(1)(4)):

CO2 emissions are taken from the central vehicle register. The cap does not apply to businesses whose activity is renting or leasing cars (art. 16(5b)). Running costs of a car also used privately are limited by a separate rule: 75% of those costs is deductible (art. 16(1)(51)).

Example: a company's purchases in March 2026

A sp. z o.o. is a small taxpayer, pays 9% CIT and deducts VAT. In March 2026 it puts three items into use and enters them in the register:

For the car, 100,000 / 180,000 of each write-off is deductible, that is PLN 1,666.67 a month: PLN 15,000 for 9 months. After 60 months the company will have written off the full PLN 180,000, of which PLN 100,000 is a tax expense.

Without the one-off write-off, the server would give PLN 13,500 of expenses in 2026 (PLN 60,000 × 30% = PLN 18,000 a year, PLN 1,500 a month for 9 months). At 9% CIT, expenses of PLN 83,500 reduce the tax for 2026 by PLN 7,515, provided the company has income to set them against.

Depreciation in the company's books

Tax depreciation and accounting depreciation are two different things. Micro and small entities may use the tax rules in their books, but this exception does not cover capital companies (art. 32(7) and (8) of the Accounting Act). A sp. z o.o. sets accounting write-offs by the useful life of the asset (art. 32(1)), so a one-off tax write-off does not have to mean a one-off expense in the financial statements. For low-value assets the act allows a simplified write-off (art. 32(6)).

On ryczałt (tax on recorded revenue), depreciation does not reduce the tax, because the base is revenue. Under Estonian CIT, tax applies mainly to distributed and hidden profit rather than taxable income, so these limits do not determine the amount (Estonian CIT).

Bill: Sejm print 3137

A government amending bill (Sejm print no. 3137) changes, among other things, the rules for changing depreciation rates and the proof of CO2 emissions for the PLN 150,000 cap. It is a bill, not law in force: it reached the Sejm on 24 September 2026 and passed its first reading on 6 October 2026. We track its progress in the article on tax changes.

Norman imports purchase invoices from KSeF and matches them to bank payments, so you have the purchase document at hand when you enter the asset in the register.

Frequently asked questions

Is the PLN 10,000 threshold net or gross?

It is the initial value. An active VAT payer with the right to deduct counts the net amount, a VAT-exempt business counts the gross amount, and non-deducted VAT always increases the value.

Can I combine the PLN 100,000 write-off and de minimis for one purchase?

No. For the same fixed asset you choose one basis (art. 16k(20)). You can use different routes for different assets in the same year if they meet the conditions.

Can a new sp. z o.o. use one-off depreciation straight away?

The PLN 100,000 write-off for factory-new assets is open to everyone. The de minimis write-off is available in the first year of business, unless the company was formed by transformation, merger or division, or a shareholder contributed their business worth at least EUR 10,000. Whether the company pays 9% CIT is covered in CIT 9% or 19%.

When does depreciation start?

In the month after the month of entry in the register. You enter the asset no later than in the month it is put into use, and a one-off write-off can be made in the month of entry.

Can a passenger car be written off at once?

No. Passenger cars are excluded from the de minimis write-off, and the PLN 100,000 write-off covers only groups 3–6 and 8, without means of transport. A used car can, however, be depreciated over 30 months at an individual rate.