Polish court upholds divorced mother’s right to preferential tax status despite having child with partner.
Preferential PIT for Single Parents
Preferential PIT filing involves taxing only half of income. First, applicable allowances are deducted from the taxable base, then divided by two. Tax is calculated on the resulting amount using the general tax scale, multiplied by two. This reduces the tax burden for single parents, though tax authorities strictly interpret “single parent” status. A favorable ruling by the Voivodeship Administrative Court (WSA) in Kielce confirms authorities are not always correct.
This case concerns a divorced mother raising a child from a previous relationship while also having a second child with a partner to whom she is not married.
Case Details: The Divorced Mother
The woman divorced in October 2017 and has a son from her first marriage. The divorce court granted parental rights to both parents, but the father severed all contact with the son. In 2023, the court terminated the father’s parental rights. He failed to meet child support obligations, forcing the mother to involve a bailiff. From 2019 to 2024, the son lived exclusively with his mother, who solely received child benefit (800+).
Since 2019, the taxpayer has been in another relationship. With her current partner, she shares a home and has a daughter, but they are unmarried and do not manage finances jointly. The partner does not participate in raising her son from the previous marriage nor bears his maintenance costs.
Tax Office’s Stance
The woman applied for an individual tax interpretation, asking whether she retains single-parent status and can correct past PIT filings. The tax office granted the preferential allowance only for 2019–2021, denying it from 2022 onward under Article 6, paragraph 4f of the PIT Act (effective January 1, 2022).
The tax authority argued that raising any child jointly with another parent disqualifies someone from filing as a single parent, even for another child. They claimed the taxpayer’s joint parenting of her daughter with her partner automatically disqualified her from claiming single-parent status for her son.
Court’s Ruling: Partner Doesn’t Automatically Disqualify
The WSA in Kielce sided with the taxpayer, stating the law intends to grant the allowance to parents who independently raise a child without another parent’s involvement. The court emphasized that living with others who do not participate in the child’s upbringing or contribute to maintenance does not disqualify someone from the allowance.
The WSA noted the taxpayer solely raised her son—the father was stripped of parental rights, had no contact, and did not contribute to costs. The partner did not finance the son’s maintenance, interfere in his upbringing, or adopt him. Thus, the child was not raised jointly. The WSA ruled she retained single-parent status and may correct filings for 2019–2024. The ruling is not final.
