VAT exemption limit in Poland 2026: PLN 240,000 and who must pay VAT

Every business is a VAT taxpayer, but not every business has to charge VAT. A small business can use the subjective exemption (zwolnienie podmiotowe) if its sales stay within the limit and its activity is not excluded from the exemption.

The exemption in 2026

• Limit: PLN 240,000 of net sales in the previous year and in the current year. From 1 January 2026 the limit rose from PLN 200,000.
• A business starting during the year counts the limit in proportion to its period of activity in that year.
• The limit does not include, among others, most sales exempt by type (for example medical or educational services) or sales of fixed assets. Financial and insurance services and real estate transactions do count, unless they are only ancillary.
• The exemption ends with the sale that takes you over the limit. You charge VAT from that sale on, so file the VAT-R beforehand.

How Norman watches the limit

If you are exempt by turnover, Norman adds up the year's sales from your tax book (column 7, the value of goods and services sold) and compares them with the year's limit: PLN 240,000 from 2026, PLN 200,000 up to 2025, and in your first year a share for the days of activity. Sales of fixed assets do not count (art. 113 ust. 2 pkt 3).

• From 80% of the limit, the running month's card on Taxes shows VAT-free limit: … of … used.
• Once a sale passes the limit, the exemption ends with that sale (art. 113 ust. 5). The card shows Become a VAT payer from … and the Change VAT status button.
• The button opens Account → Company with a change card: VAT status active VAT payer, JPK_V7 monthly, from the first day of that month. Click Apply. The JPK_V7 reports then appear from that month, and the months before stay exempt.
• Register yourself too: file an updated VAT-R at your tax office. Norman notifies nobody.

A company with full books (sp. z o.o.) is not watched yet.

Who cannot use the exemption

Regardless of turnover, the exemption is not available to a business that:

• provides legal services, consulting services (except agricultural consulting), jewellery services or debt collection, including factoring;
• sells, among others, excise goods (with exceptions), new means of transport, building land, products made of precious metals, car parts;
• sells cosmetics, electronics, electrical equipment and some machinery online or at a distance.

The full list is in art. 113(13) of the VAT Act and in annex 12.

Active VAT payer

You can register for VAT voluntarily, even within the limit. This makes sense when you sell mainly to businesses that deduct VAT, or when you have large purchases with VAT. After giving up the exemption you can return to it at the earliest a year after the end of the year in which you gave it up.

• VAT-R: file it at the latest on the day before your first sale with VAT, with the CEIDG application or at the tax office.
• VAT-UE: register before your first intra-EU transaction. This also applies to a VAT-exempt business that buys services from businesses in other EU countries (for example advertising or software) or provides services to EU businesses. Such a business also owes the VAT on these purchases: see VAT-9M and VAT-8.

You can check the VAT status of any NIP in the VAT payer register (white list).

VAT rates

Check the rate for a specific product or service in the VAT Act and its annexes. If in doubt, you can apply for a binding rate information (WIS).

Filing: JPK_V7M or JPK_V7K

An active VAT payer files the JPK_V7 with the return and the records by the 25th of the following month. A small taxpayer can file quarterly (JPK_V7K), but not in the first 12 months as an active VAT payer. See JPK_V7: how Norman prepares and files it.

KSeF

From 2026 invoices to businesses are issued in the National e-Invoice System (KSeF): from 1 February 2026 for the largest businesses, from 1 April 2026 for everyone else. Until 31 December 2026 you can issue invoices outside KSeF as long as their total including VAT does not exceed PLN 10,000 a month. See Sending invoices to KSeF.

In Norman

You set your VAT status and JPK frequency under Account → Company, section VAT: see Tax settings. Rates on invoices are covered in VAT on invoices, and the VAT-UE in VAT-UE and VAT-UEK.

This is general information on the 2026 rules. Check with an accountant or a tax adviser whether you can use the exemption.

Sources: VAT Act, art. 41, 96, 97, 99, 113, 145l, 145m and 146ef, podatki.gov.pl: VAT, VAT payer register, KSeF.