How to establish the PKWiU code for a service and apply to GUS for classification (2026)

How to establish the PKWiU code for a service and apply to GUS for classification

For service activity, the lump-sum tax on recorded revenue (ryczałt od przychodów ewidencjonowanych) depends, as a rule, on the PKWiU code of the service. Below are three steps: establishing the code, filing a classification application, and translating the reply into your revenue records. This complements the rate table and sector guides; it does not replace them.

1. Starting point: a PKWiU code, not an “industry”

The Ministry of Finance states plainly: “Właściwą stawkę ryczałtu od przychodów osiąganych z działalności usługowej co do zasady ustalasz na podstawie symbolu Polskiej Klasyfikacji Wyrobów i Usług (PKWiU) danej usługi.” — in short, the applicable lump-sum rate is determined, as a rule, from the PKWiU code of the service (Stawki i limity, podatki.gov.pl).

A general description of the business or the name of an occupation is therefore not enough for services: you need the PKWiU 2015 grouping code assigned to the specific service. The 5.5% rate (e.g. manufacturing, construction works), the 3% rate (e.g. service activity in trade) and the 8.5% rate for service activity with no other rate provided apply to different kinds of activity, which is why separating them in your records matters.

2. Where to send the application

• WIS (VAT), WIA (excise), WIT (customs) and WIP (origin of goods) → Director of the National Revenue Information (KIS) (gov.pl/web/kis).
• PKWiU 2015 for purposes other than the above, plus PKD, KŚT and PKOB → Centre for Classification and Nomenclature (OKN) of the Statistical Office in Łódź, ul. Suwalska 29, 93-176 Łódź (OKN page).

If the aim is to confirm a PKWiU 2015 code for income tax purposes (hence also lump-sum tax), the second route is the correct one.

3. How to describe the service

The OKN form covers one classification and one service; further queries must be filed on separate forms (application form). For PKWiU the description must state what the service consists of and covers, on whose order and under which contract it is provided, and who owns the input material (raw material). For a composite service, indicate the activity or service that gives it its principal character.

In the electronic form you state the purpose of the application, e.g. “classification of PKWiU 2015 for income tax purposes”. Legal basis: the Act of 29 June 1995 on public statistics (Dz. U. of 2024, item 1799). Before filing, check the GUS classification search engine (www.stat.gov.pl/Klasyfikacje) — some codes can be established on your own.

4. What a classification reply establishes

An OKN reply confirms the PKWiU 2015 code for the service described. It does not determine the tax rate: you select the rate from the code and the provisions of the lump-sum tax act. The description should therefore reflect how the service is actually performed, not the commercial label used in your offer.

5. Lump-sum rates — reference point (from 2022)

• 17% — liberal professions,
• 15% — certain intangible services, e.g. wholesale intermediation, advertising, photographic, employment-related, cultural and entertainment services,
• 14% — e.g. health care, architectural and engineering services, technical testing and analysis, specialised design,
• 12% — certain IT services,
• 10% — buying and selling real estate on own account,
• 8.5% up to PLN 100,000 of revenue and 12.5% on the excess — e.g. rental of business assets, accommodation services, rental and management of own or leased real estate, scientific research and development,
• 8.5% — e.g. service activity with no other rate provided, education, manufacturing goods from materials supplied by the client,
• 5.5% — e.g. manufacturing, construction works, freight transport with vehicles over 2 tonnes,
• 3% — e.g. service activity in trade, catering (except sales of drinks above 1.5% alcohol), interest on business accounts, paid disposal of tangible fixed assets.

6. Mixed services: separate records

Where one business provides services with different codes (and different rates), keep a separate revenue record for each rate and describe ambiguous cases in separate classification applications. A composite service is characterised by the activity that is principal — that activity is what you describe in the application.

7. Boundary conditions

• Revenue limit for lump-sum taxation: EUR 2,000,000; for 2026 converted to PLN 8,517,200 (rate 4.2586) (Stawki i limity).
• Limit allowing quarterly settlement: EUR 200,000, i.e. PLN 851,720.
• The statement choosing lump-sum taxation is filed with the competent head of the tax office or under the CEIDG Act — by the 20th day of the month following the month of first revenue, or by the end of the year if the first revenue falls in December. In a partnership, all partners file it (Opodatkowanie ryczałtem).
• Lump-sum taxation is unavailable to, among others, flat-rate card taxpayers, those using a temporary tax exemption, pharmacies, foreign-exchange trading, trade in vehicle parts and accessories, excise goods manufacturers (except renewable-source electricity), and those selling to a former or current employer services corresponding to employment duties.

8. Checklist

1. Describe one service as it is actually performed.
2. Check the code in the GUS classification search engine.
3. File the application with the right body (KIS or OKN) — one query per form.
4. State the purpose, e.g. PKWiU 2015 for income tax purposes.
5. Save a PDF copy of the form.
6. Map the code to a rate and keep a separate revenue record for each rate.

Sources

• Centre for Classification and Nomenclature, Statistical Office in Łódź
• Application for a classification interpretation (form)
• Lump-sum taxation on recorded revenue
• Rates and limits