Poland's president signs off on new zero income tax law for parents with two children

Poland's president has signed a new law introducing zero personal income tax (PIT) for parents raising at least two children, a reform which aims to support families, increase household income and boost economic activity.

The bill, presented by Karol Nawrocki in August, removes the income tax obligation on families earning up to 140,000 zloty (€32,973) a year.

The tax break is available to all parents who have parental responsibility over children, including legal guardians and foster parents.

According to calculations by the presidency, an average Polish family is expected to be around 1,000 zloty (€235) per month better off thanks to the new tax break.

The actual impact of the new regulations will only be visible in the 2026 tax return, which will be filed in 2027.

The aim of the reform is to reduce the tax burden on families, increase disposable income, stimulate consumption and encourage professional activity.

Nawrocki made zero PIT for families one of the pillars of his presidential campaign.

As early as March, he presented his so-called "Contract with the Poles," in which he announced the introduction of the tax relief from the first day of his presidency.

After his victory in the June run-off he kept his word, symbolically signing the bill on 8 August before passing it to Poland’s parliament, the Sejm.

Zero PIT is just one element of a wider reform dubbed the "tax armour," a package of reforms that also includes a reduction of VAT from 23% to 22%, the abolition of capital gains tax and the introduction of a quota-based pension indexation.

Who will benefit?

The president's office says that financing the programme will come from a tightening of the tax system to the tune of 14 billion zloty (€3 billion), but financial experts believe that such a sum is unrealistic to achieve by this route alone.

Tax specialists also warn that the real benefits will be felt mainly by the wealthiest citizens.

Piotr Juszczyk, chief tax adviser at inFakt, stresses that low-income families, who pay little or no income tax, will gain a negligible amount while those with high incomes will benefit the most.

For example, a family with a gross monthly income of 7,000 zloty (€1,648) can count on a relief of around 395 zloty (€93) per month.

In comparison, parents earning 12,000 zloty (€2,826) per month will save as much as 913 zloty (€215) every month, or over 11,000 zloty (€2,590) per year.

Meanwhile, those earning the lowest national income can only expect to see savings of around 75 zloty (€17) while those with incomes lower than the tax-free amount will not see any change at all as they are already exempt from PIT.

What do Poles think?

On 11 September, public consultations were held on the draft law prepared by the President. 476 people took part in the consultation, 71% of whom were men and 29% were women.

Around 76% of respondents felt that the new tax law was definitely needed, while only 16% expressed strong opposition to Nawrocki's proposal.

In addition, 66% of respondents positively assessed the presented assessment of the economic and financial impact of the introduction of zero PIT for 2+2 families, while between 10-11% disagreed with it.