Polish tax regulations allow deductions for expenses related to payment terminal purchases and operation, but exclude unregistered businesses.
Terminal Deduction Explained
Certain expenses incurred for the purchase and operation of a payment terminal can be deducted. This tax relief in the PIT (Personal Income Tax) is exclusively available to individuals conducting business activity outside of agriculture.
What Expenses Qualify?
The terminal deduction covers expenses related to acquiring a payment terminal and those associated with processing payment transactions using it. These expenses generally apply to the tax year in which payments began being accepted via the terminal and the following year.
Expenses related to transaction processing include interchange fees, merchant fees, and system fees. It also includes fees for terminal usage resulting from rental, lease, or similar agreements.
Deduction Limits
Taxpayers who have paid VAT can deduct the amount including that tax, provided it hasn’t already been deducted. For cashless taxpayers, 100% of expenses can be deducted, up to a maximum of 2,000 zł per year.
A cashless taxpayer is defined as someone who accepts payments via a terminal.
Eligibility Criteria
The terminal deduction applies to income taxed at the tax scale or linear PIT (19%) or income taxed with a flat-rate registered tax. It is declared in annual tax returns: PIT-36, PIT-36S, PIT-36L, PIT-36LS, PIT-28, PIT-28S.
The deduction is not available to individuals conducting unregistered business activity, as clarified by the Ministry of Finance.
Unregistered Business Activity
Unregistered business activity does not require company registration or entry into the Central Register of Information on Economic Activity. It also exempts individuals from paying social security contributions or health insurance premiums related to business activity, provided income remains below a certain threshold (3,499.50 zł gross monthly in 2025).
