What is PIT ?

PIT is a tax paid by all working individuals. In other words, it is a personal income tax. If you are employed, taxes are automatically deducted from your salary.

This tax is mandatory not only for Polish citizens but also for all foreigners who officially work in Poland. Even if you worked in Poland for a very short period — say, just one day — you are still required to file a tax declaration. The relevant document will be sent to you by mail.

PIT-11 and PIT-37 – What’s the difference?

Taxpayers encounter two types of PIT forms: 11 and 37. PIT-11 is a tax information report prepared by the employer. After completing it, the employer sends it to the employee who is or was employed by the company. The employer is required to send this document to the employee by the end of February.

In the tax information report, the employer states how much the employee earned, how much tax was deducted from that amount, and how much was received “in hand.” Reviewing the document allows you to see how much you earned and how much was paid to the Polish tax office. The document contains all your earnings from the previous year.

In practice, about 27% of your salary is deducted annually in taxes. As a result, you receive about 73% net pay. This is collected in the form of advance payments, and only in the following year can the tax office accurately calculate how much tax you were actually supposed to pay. These amounts often do not match.

This leads to two possible outcomes: the first (and most common) is that part of the tax will be returned to you. The second is that you paid too little, and you must pay the difference.

It is important to understand this and not believe the myth that Poland simply gives part of your tax back “for free,” as some may think. The system works by initially collecting more taxes, then reimbursing the excess.

If you worked for more than one employer, you will receive a separate PIT-11 form from each company. All forms must be included in your annual tax declaration.

What is PIT-37?

This is a tax declaration form that you complete yourself. The difference between PIT-11 and PIT-37 is simple: PIT-11 is filled out by your employer and sent to you, while PIT-37 is completed by you, copying the data from PIT-11 and submitting it to the tax office. Filling out PIT-37 is not difficult — all the necessary data is already in the PIT-11 form, and you simply need to transfer it to the new document.

Everyone working under an employment contract (Umowa o pracę), a mandate contract (Umowa zlecenia), or even a contract for specific work (Umowa o dzieło), is required to complete the PIT-37 and submit it to the tax office.