Lump-Sum Tax for Personal Trainers in Poland in 2026: PKWiU and VAT

“Personal training at 8.5%” looks like a simple search-engine answer. In practice, the lump-sum tax (ryczałt) rate depends on what the trainer actually sells. Individual instruction in exercise technique, running recreational classes, providing gym access, and a monthly package with an app do not necessarily constitute the same supply.

The 8.5% rate may be appropriate for some educational or training services if their classification and substance do not place the revenue under a higher rate. It should not, however, be assigned automatically to every personal trainer. You first need a specific description of the service and the correct classification under the Polish classification of goods and services (PKWiU).

The job title does not determine the rate

The Lump-Sum Income Tax Act assigns rates to types of revenue, often by reference to PKWiU. “Personal trainer” is a market-facing job title that may cover different business models.

One trainer teaches clients how to exercise safely and designs a training process. Another runs recreational classes at a club. A third sells a package covering gym admission, supervision during training, an app-based plan, and a consultation. Yet another teaches a course for future instructors. Similar social-media profiles do not mean identical tax classifications.

The PKD code entered in the business registry (CEIDG) does not settle the matter either. PKD describes the activity in the register, whereas the lump-sum tax rate follows from the Act and the classification of the service actually supplied.

When 8.5% may be justified

The general 8.5% rate covers revenue from service activities for which the Act provides no other rate. In practice, it is sometimes considered for educational and training services. Calling a meeting “training” is not enough to apply it.

The description should show that the customer buys a teaching process: the transfer of knowledge, instruction, technique correction, educational objectives, and a defined programme of classes. You must then identify the correct PKWiU grouping and determine whether the specific code or actual scope of the service falls under a different rate provision.

This cautious approach matters because educational services form a broad category. A course for trainers, a squat-technique workshop, individual exercise instruction, and ready-made video material may differ in how they are provided and classified. There is no single rate merely because all these activities contain an element of sharing knowledge.

Training, recreation, and sport require separate analysis

Services connected with sport, recreation, or improving fitness may be classified differently from typical training. What matters is whether the trainer primarily teaches, leads a recreational activity, organises participation in classes, provides access to infrastructure, or supplies several connected activities.

For example, a customer may pay for an hour of individual work with an instructor at a venue chosen by the customer. Alternatively, they may buy a pass that covers both classes and admission to a club. From the customer’s perspective, both products serve exercise, but their economic substance is not identical.

Under the lump-sum tax rules, some entertainment and recreational services are treated separately, and provisions concerning admission have their own meaning. Do not apply a rate concerning access to a venue to the trainer’s entire fee without examining the contract. Nor should you assume that every workout is education merely because the trainer provides guidance.

If you work with a gym, establish who sells admission to the venue. The situation differs depending on whether the club invoices the membership and the trainer separately invoices their service, or the trainer charges a single fee and supplies the entire package to the customer.

Online packages do not solve the classification issue

Remote training may include a video call, an individual plan, recordings, progress monitoring, app access, and messages between sessions. Providing the service online does not determine the rate.

You need to establish whether the customer buys an individual service performed by the trainer, access to ready-made materials, a content licence, a digital service, or a package. With a subscription, it is worth describing which elements have independent significance and which merely support the main supply.

The same applies to a training plan sold without a consultation. A ready-made file downloaded automatically may require a different analysis from a plan prepared for a particular person after an interview. Automatically assigning 8.5% to both products would go too far.

Diet plans and nutrition consultations

Many trainers add an analysis of eating habits, a meal plan, or ongoing consultations. These activities may go beyond the training service. Their classification depends on their scope, the qualifications of the person providing them, and whether they constitute education, advice, a health service, or part of one package.

Avoid using only “transformation package” on the invoice if it includes training, club admission, consultations, and digital products. The documentation should make it possible to reconstruct what the customer paid for. If there are separate supplies subject to different rates, the revenue records must allow them to be separated.

Lump-sum tax does not recognise a trainer’s costs

The tax is calculated on revenue without deducting ordinary deductible expenses (KUP). Room rental, a club’s commission, equipment, apps, advertising, training courses, and travel do not reduce the lump-sum tax base.

A low rate alone therefore does not mean that lump-sum tax is beneficial. A trainer who passes a substantial part of the price to the club may have high revenue and significant expenses. In that model, it is worth comparing lump-sum tax with the tax scale and flat tax. A starting point is the guide to lump-sum tax for a sole proprietorship in Poland in 2026.

The lump-sum tax treatment of translators also illustrates why the working model matters: the same job title may lead to different rates depending on statutory conditions and how the services are actually supplied.

How to determine PKWiU and protect your tax position

Write down the offer in plain, specific language. Describe the location of the classes, the trainer’s role, access to the venue, materials, means of contact, package elements, and the result for which the customer pays. Attach the contract, terms and conditions, a sample invoice, and a description of settlements with the club.

Then match the supply to PKWiU. If the correct grouping is unclear, you may request classification information from Statistics Poland (GUS). GUS classifies the service but does not confirm the tax rate.

Once the PKWiU classification has been determined, you may consider applying to the Director of the National Revenue Information Service (KIS) for an individual tax ruling. The description must match actual practice because the ruling’s protection depends on the facts matching the application. A binding rate ruling (WIS) concerns VAT, so it is not the correct instrument for confirming a lump-sum income-tax rate.

VAT for personal trainers in Poland in 2026

The form of income taxation does not determine VAT status. A trainer using lump-sum tax may be an active VAT taxpayer or use the small-business exemption under the conditions of Article 113 of the VAT Act.

In 2026, the annual sales threshold for the exemption is 240,000 zł. Someone who starts selling during the year determines the threshold in proportion to the period of business activity. You must also establish what counts toward the threshold and whether a particular type of activity falls within the statutory exceptions that exclude the exemption.

Not every supply containing a teaching element is automatically exempt from VAT as education. Those exemptions have their own detailed conditions. If the trainer relies on the small-business exemption, they should monitor the threshold. Once it is exceeded, the exemption is lost from the transaction that caused the threshold to be exceeded.

For packages sold through a club, you must also establish who provides the service to the customer, who issues the document, and whether the trainer acts in their own name or on behalf of the venue.

Frequently asked questions

Can a personal trainer pay 8.5%?

This may be possible for educational or training services not covered by a higher rate, but it requires correct classification. The job title alone is not enough.

Do all classes at a gym have the same rate?

No. Individual instruction, a recreational service, access to a venue, and a club package may require different analyses.

Is an online training plan a training service?

This cannot be decided without a description. A trainer’s individual work differs from the automated sale of a ready-made file or access to an app.

Will a WIS confirm the lump-sum tax rate?

No. A WIS is used for VAT matters. For lump-sum tax, GUS classification information and an individual KIS ruling are the relevant tools.

Sources

• Act on Lump-Sum Income Tax on Certain Revenue Earned by Individuals, in particular Article 12.
• VAT Act, in particular Article 113.
• PKWiU 2015 — classification materials from Statistics Poland.