Quarterly lump-sum tax in 2026: conditions and limit for a sole proprietorship

Check when a sole proprietor in Poland may pay the lump-sum tax quarterly in 2026, how the PLN 851,720 limit works, and where to report the choice.

Quarterly payments are not a separate form of taxation. They are only an optional frequency for calculating and paying the lump-sum tax on recorded revenue. You must first be eligible for the lump-sum tax itself and only then check whether quarterly settlement is available. This follows from the separate rules on eligibility for the lump-sum tax and quarterly payments in Article 21(1a)–(1c) of the same Act.

Who may pay the lump-sum tax quarterly in 2026

Two main routes are available to a sole proprietor:

continuing business — revenue received from the independently operated business in 2025 did not exceed the equivalent of EUR 200,000;
starting a business in 2026 — the entrepreneur qualifies as a taxpayer starting a business within the meaning of Article 7 of the Act.

The Ministry of Finance states that, for 2026, the EUR 200,000 limit equals PLN 851,720. The conversion used an exchange rate of PLN 4.2586 per euro. Source: official Ministry of Finance rates and limits for 2026.

The 2025 revenue test

For a continuing sole proprietorship, Article 21(1b) refers to revenue received from an independently operated business in the preceding year. Eligibility for quarterly settlement in 2026 is therefore tested against 2025 revenue.

The statutory condition says that revenue must have “not exceeded” the limit, so the boundary is inclusive:

PLN 851,720 — the limit has not been exceeded;
more than PLN 851,720 — the quarterly-payment limit is not satisfied.

When calculating this limit, exclude amounts by which the taxpayer respectively reduced or increased revenue under Article 11(4), (5), (8), and (9), as well as amounts by which the taxpayer reduced or increased the tax base under Article 26i of the PIT Act. These are statutory exclusions from the limit test, not optional accounting or organizational adjustments.

When is an entrepreneur “starting a business”?

Article 7 covers a taxpayer who starts a business in the tax year and did not conduct a business in the preceding year. In that case, the lump-sum tax applies from the date on which the first revenue is earned.

The following do not constitute starting a business:

a complete or partial change of industry or business activity;
an amendment to a partnership agreement or a change of partner;
the creation of an enterprise in succession.

Merely changing the profile of an existing sole proprietorship in 2026 therefore does not create new-starter status for this rule.

First establish eligibility for the lump-sum tax, then the payment frequency

The quarterly limit of PLN 851,720 does not by itself determine whether an entrepreneur may use the lump-sum tax.

For a continuing independently operated business, the upper 2025 revenue limit for eligibility for the lump-sum tax in 2026 is EUR 2,000,000, or PLN 8,517,200. A taxpayer starting a business during the tax year may use the lump-sum tax regardless of revenue, provided that the taxpayer does not use the tax card. The Ministry of Finance publishes the applicable limits.

The exclusions in Article 8 must also be checked. The lump-sum tax does not apply, among others, to taxpayers who:

pay tax using the tax card;
benefit from a temporary income-tax exemption;
operate a pharmacy;
buy and sell foreign-exchange values as a business activity;
trade in parts and accessories for motor vehicles;
manufacture goods subject to excise duty, except for the statutory exception for electricity generated from renewable energy sources.

A separate rule applies to revenue from sales or services supplied to a former or current employer when they correspond to duties performed under an employment relationship during the periods specified in Article 8(2).

Choosing the lump-sum tax as the form of taxation is subject to the separate procedure in Article 9. That choice must not be confused with reporting quarterly payment frequency.

How the quarterly payment cycle works

A taxpayer using the optional quarterly method calculates the lump-sum tax for each quarter and pays it to the tax office’s account:

for the first, second, and third quarters — by the 20th day of the month following the end of the relevant quarter;
for the final quarter — by 20 January of the following tax year.

These are statutory deadlines expressed in relative terms. Before making a payment, check the current tax calendar if the statutory date falls on a non-working day. This article does not provide unverified dates adjusted for weekends or public holidays.

How to report quarterly payments

A taxpayer must report the use of the quarterly payment method in the annual return filed for the year in which that method was actually used. For an entrepreneur taxed on recorded revenue, this means providing the relevant information in the PIT-28 return.

This is a mandatory reporting obligation completed in the annual return. It does not replace a valid choice of the lump-sum tax itself as the form of taxation.

Hypothetical boundary examples

Example 1 — exactly at the boundary: An entrepreneur operated a sole proprietorship throughout 2025, is eligible for the lump-sum tax, is not subject to an Article 8 exclusion, and had exactly PLN 851,720 of revenue received and included in the Article 21(1b) test. The limit was not exceeded, so the entrepreneur may use optional quarterly payments in 2026.

Example 2 — one złoty above the limit: Under the same assumptions, the revenue received and included in the test was PLN 851,721. The entrepreneur does not satisfy the quarterly-payment limit for 2026, even if the business remains below the higher limit for eligibility for the lump-sum tax itself.

Example 3 — a genuine new entrepreneur: A taxpayer starts a sole proprietorship in 2026 and did not conduct a business in 2025. If the taxpayer validly chooses the lump-sum tax, does not use the tax card, and is not subject to another statutory exclusion, the taxpayer may use optional quarterly payments as a person starting a business within the meaning of Article 7.

Example 4 — only a change of industry: A taxpayer operated a sole proprietorship in 2025 and completely changed the type of business in 2026. This does not make the taxpayer a person starting a business under Article 7. Availability of quarterly payments must be assessed using the taxpayer’s revenue received in 2025 and the other applicable conditions.

Checklist for a sole proprietorship

Check the following in order:

Are you eligible for the lump-sum tax in 2026, including compliance with the applicable limit and the absence of an Article 8 exclusion?
Did you validly choose the lump-sum tax as your form of taxation under Article 9?
Are you a taxpayer starting a business within the meaning of Article 7?
If not, did revenue received from your independently operated business in 2025, after applying the statutory exclusions from the test, remain at or below PLN 851,720?
If you use the optional quarterly method, do you calculate and pay the lump-sum tax after each quarter, including under the separate rule for the final quarter?
Will you report the quarterly payment method in the annual PIT-28 return for the year in which you used it?

Do not confuse the quarterly limit with the small-taxpayer limit

For 2026, the Ministry of Finance also gives a small-taxpayer limit of EUR 2,000,000, or PLN 8,517,000 after separate rounding to the nearest PLN 1,000. This is not the quarterly lump-sum limit. The relevant amount for quarterly lump-sum payments is PLN 851,720, without that rounding method.

The złoty amounts stated here apply only to 2026. For later years, use the limits converted at the exchange rate applicable to the relevant year, under the statutory rule referring to the first working day of October in the year preceding the tax year.