Hello there!
As an expat, I would like to understand more on how to correctly pay taxes from investments in Poland, hoping someone experienced here helps.
Common tax info
So far from what I read on the Internet I understood that capital gains tax in Poland is 19% and it doesn’t matter what amount of profit it is and for how long you keep it. Is it correct? For dividend taxes too? What about automatic reinvestments inside accumulative ETFs?
Are taxes paid only if funds go to personal bank account from the brokerage?
Tax forms
I have found a website which can help count taxes from investment profits: kalkulatorgieldowy.pl
But I am not sure how to deal with double taxation and when it is applied. For example, is it applied when buying American index ETF shares which are hold by European or UK companies?
How to correctly fill forms regarding it in order to avoid overpaying? (W-8BEN, PIT-38, something else?)
Base currency
Another thing which is important for me right now is deciding to have PLN, EUR or USD as a base currency in my account. Currently I have PLN, but want to switch, because I am not sure I will stay in Poland for many years and it would be more convenient to have more common currency chosen in profile. I understand that there is multicurrency, but still, in order to understand gains not in PLN I need to go to specific equity and check it there.
Would it be still clear how to count tax and would it work with automatically filing forms in tax calculators with currency exchange info?
Currently I have some funds invested and in order to change base currency I would have to withdraw funds and count taxes from it by April 2024, hence my questions 
Happy to read any opinions regarding any part of the topic.
Thank you, cheers!
19% on capital gains and dividends, the so-called “Belka tax” (podatek Belki). Acc ETFs are not subject to this, unless you sell and make a profit. The tax is applicable even if the dividends/profit from sold shares stays in your brokerage. If you don’t sell and get no dividends - no taxes.
Double taxation is dependent on domicile and tax treaties between Poland and domicile. E.g., distributing S&P 500 ETF domiciled in Ireland - you paid 0% in Ireland so have to pay 19% in Poland. But e.g., Apple dividend, as you paid 15% USA witholding tax, you can deduct that and pay just the remaining 4% in Poland.
EDIT: Please note this is not tax advice, I’m not a tax advisor and this is based purely on my knowledge and experience with this tax.
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Thank you! Found valuable information in your response
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Thank you for the answer. I also had the same question. I have invested in icore Acc s&P 500. lets says I sell my shares partly. How do i manage the tax ?
FIFO - First In First Out
I’ll explain on an example as it’ll be easier for me.
Let’s say you have 20 shares of Amazing ETF which is listed in EUR:
1 share bought on 1/2/22 for 10 EUR each
3 shares bought on 8/2/22 for 10.5 EUR each
6 shares bought on 1/3/22 for 9.90 EUR each
10 shares bought on 1/5/23 for 11.15 EUR each
and today you decide to sell 12 shares for 12.00 EUR each.
from tax perspective you sold
1 share bought on 1/2/22
3 shares bought on 8/2/22
6 shares bought on 1/3/22
2 shares bought on 1/5/23
To calculate the tax basis you need to calculate the value of each transaction based on the EURPLN from the day prior to the transaction (if the previous day was a national holiday, you go to the first banking day before the purchase e.g., a share bought on 27/12/23 has it’s EURPLN exchange rate from 22/12/23 because 23-26 were bank holidays)
So the correct FX rate for 1 share bought on 1/2/22 is from 31/1/22 and so on.
After you have the cost calculated, you can calculate the sale price in PLN using the same method. Then just subtract costs from sales and you have the profit amount from which you should pay 19% tax. If you have a loss, just report that and no taxes from that.
Hope that helps.
Please note this is not financial nor tax advice. I’m not a tax specialist and this is my personal understanding of how this tax should be calculated.