Business Review Poland – October 2026

The Polish tax and compliance updates for October 2026 cover NSA rulings on Estonian CIT and dividend WHT, vehicle VAT, risk-based ZUS and KAS inspections and anti-mobbing rules applying from 5 November 2026. Businesses should check dividend calculations, holding chains, records and workplace regulations.

October 2026 brought case law, inspection data and legislation all at once, and the Polish tax and compliance updates for October 2026 point to enforcement that is more targeted rather than broader.

How are dividends and financing treated under Estonian CIT?

In II FSK 1274/23 of 29 September 2026, the NSA held that the 19% PIT on dividends is charged on the whole profit paid out. The company’s lump-sum tax counts only through the credit in Article 30a(19) of the PIT Act: 90% of the tax at a 10% rate, 70% at a 20% rate. For a PLN 100,000 payout, total CIT and PIT come to PLN 20,000 or PLN 25,000 respectively.

• Interest on bonds paid to a related party may be a hidden profit under Article 28m of the CIT Act if the bonds worked economically like a loan (II FSK 1291/23).
• Contributing bonds that a shareholder holds privately does not automatically cause the temporary exclusion under Article 28k, even above EUR 10,000 (II FSK 1300/23).

Does an indirect shareholding qualify for the dividend WHT exemption?

Not according to five NSA judgments of 8 July 2026: look-through cannot replace the requirement that the entity claiming the exemption directly holds at least 10% of the shares. This clashes with Ministry of Finance guidance of 3 July 2025 and with KIS rulings built on it.

Other rulings favoured taxpayers: Article 22(4)(4) of the CIT Act does not require the dividend itself to be effectively taxed, and beneficial ownership is not a separate condition under Article 22(4). Groups with multi-tier structures should reassess exemptions resting on an indirect shareholder before the next dividend.

How are company vehicles treated for VAT?

• Cars and motorcycles fall under Article 86a, limiting deduction to 50% for mixed use. Full recovery needs a policy excluding private use, mileage records and a VAT-26 notification by the 25th day of the month after the first vehicle expense, and no later than that month’s JPK_V7.
• Bicycles, e-bikes meeting the statutory definition (250 W maximum continuous rated power, support cutting out above 25 km/h) and typical e-scooters sit outside Article 86a, so Article 86(1) applies.
• For cars kept at employees’ homes, KIS refused full deduction on 20 March 2026 despite GPS and mileage records, but allowed it on 10 August 2026 for sales representatives with a clear business rationale and enforced controls.

How do ZUS and KAS choose whom to inspect?

ZUS carried out 20,529 inspections between January and August 2026 and found irregularities in 18,495 (90.1%), with findings of PLN 373.3 million. Since 1 January 2026 it has used a risk framework; low- and medium-risk payers face scheduled inspections no more than once every five and three years respectively.

In 2025, KAS ran 27.4% fewer customs and fiscal audits (5,113) and 11.3% fewer tax audits (8,722), yet findings from customs and fiscal audits rose by 46.4% to PLN 6.52 billion. With KSeF and JPK data feeding analytical tools, finance and HR teams need reconciled records and evidence that transactions took place.

What must employers do under the new mobbing rules?

From 5 November 2026, mobbing means persistent harassment of an employee; one-off incidents and justified performance assessments are excluded. Compensation will be no lower than six times the minimum wage, and an employer that pays may seek recourse from the responsible person in proportion to their fault.

Employers with at least 10 employees must put preventive rules, procedures and their frequency into workplace regulations, unless a collective labour agreement already covers them. The deadline is 5 May 2027.

Read the full article here: Business Review Poland – October 2026