Zero PIT-28: conditions for the family tax preference exception

Having no sales alone is not enough for a PIT-28 to qualify as so-called “zero” for the family tax preferences described by the Ministry of Finance. Nor should this term be equated with a zero tax amount alone. What matters is the full set of conditions specified in the Ministry of Finance guidance on reporting revenue subject to lump-sum taxation.

What a so-called zero PIT-28 means

For business activity subject to lump-sum tax on recorded revenue, the Ministry of Finance specifies the following conditions, all of which must be met throughout the tax year:

• you receive no revenue from the business activity;
• you incur no tax-deductible costs;
• you are neither required to nor exercise an entitlement to increase or decrease the tax base or revenue;
• you are neither required to nor exercise an entitlement to make other additions or deductions.

Having no revenue is therefore only one element of this exception. Costs must also be considered, together with the specified obligations and the exercise of entitlements to adjust the tax base or revenue or make additions and deductions.

Joint tax return for spouses

If you receive business revenue subject to lump-sum tax on recorded revenue, you cannot file jointly with your spouse.

However, the Ministry of Finance allows a joint return where you have a so-called zero PIT-28, provided that you meet all four conditions described above together with the remaining conditions for joint filing by spouses. Meeting the zero PIT-28 conditions alone therefore does not establish entitlement to this preference.

A joint return may cover only income (revenue) taxed under the tax scale.

Preferential filing for a person raising a child alone

Receiving business revenue subject to lump-sum tax on recorded revenue also prevents preferential filing as a person raising a child alone.

Here too, the Ministry of Finance provides an exception for a so-called zero PIT-28. It requires all four conditions described above to be met together with the remaining conditions for filing as a person raising a child alone. A zero PIT-28 therefore does not automatically confer entitlement to this preference.

Preferential filing covers only income (revenue) taxed under the tax scale.

Voluntarily organizing information

For organizational purposes, it is worth gathering information covering the entire tax year on:

• business revenue;
• tax-deductible costs;
• mandatory increases or decreases to the tax base or revenue and those actually applied;
• other mandatory additions and deductions and those actually claimed or applied.

This is an optional organizational recommendation, not an additional statutory condition or confirmation of entitlement to a tax preference. This article explains only the exception concerning a so-called zero PIT-28—it does not provide a complete list of conditions for either preference or assess any individual tax return.