PIT-28, PIT-36, PIT-36L: which form applies to me

At the end of April every entrepreneur faces the same question: which form do I file? For a layperson it is a maze of numbers and letters: PIT-28, PIT-36, PIT-36L, PIT-37, PIT-38, PIT-39. The good news is that most owners of small businesses choose from just the first three, and the decision depends on one thing: the form of taxation you chose for the given year (a change is reported by 20 February when the first revenue of the year falls in January).

The PIT forms for entrepreneurs differ in how income is calculated, the reliefs available and the attachments. Whichever form it is, you file all three by 30 April of the following year, so the PIT for 2025 is filed by 30 April 2026.

The decision in one sentence

Your PIT form depends only on the form of taxation you have chosen:

| Form of taxation | Form | Rate | |---------------------|-----------|--------| | Registered lump-sum tax on recorded revenue | PIT-28 | 2% / 3% / 5.5% / 8.5% / 12% / 14% / 15% / 17% | | Tax scale | PIT-36 | 12% / 32% | | Flat tax | PIT-36L | 19% | | Tax card (for those continuing from 2021) | PIT-16A | fixed amount |

To check your form: log in to the Central Register and Information on Business (CEIDG). The “Forms of taxation” section shows the current one for the current year.

PIT-28: lump-sum taxpayers

It is chosen by entrepreneurs who are taxed on registered lump-sum tax on recorded revenue. This applies, among others, to programmers (software-related services, rate 12%), people providing services (rates of 8.5% / 15% / 17% depending on the type of service under the PKWiU classification) and people renting out flats privately (8.5% up to PLN 100,000, 12.5% above).

What PIT-28 contains

• Revenue from the revenue register (separately for each rate)
• Deductions of social insurance contributions (100% of those paid can be deducted)
• 50% of the health insurance contributions paid is deducted from revenue
• Attachment PIT-28/B: when you are taxed through a general or civil-law partnership
• Attachment PIT-O: deductions (donations, the rehabilitation relief, internet)
• Attachment PIT/ZG: when you have revenue from abroad

PIT-36: the tax scale

The basic form for entrepreneurs taxed on the scale (12% up to PLN 120,000 of income a year, 32% above). It is chosen by default by anyone who has not reported another form. The scale is “option A”.

Who files PIT-36

• Owners of sole trader businesses on the scale
• Partners in a civil-law partnership: each one reports their own share of the income. Partners in a limited partnership do not file PIT-36 on this basis. The partnership has been a CIT taxpayer since 2021, and the partners’ profits are taxed like a dividend at a flat 19%, collected by the partnership as the withholding agent
• Taxpayers with revenue from more than one source (for example a sole trader business + a job + rental)
• Individuals with revenue from rental taxed on general rules

PIT-36 makes it possible to use:

1. Joint taxation with a spouse: significantly lowers the tax when the incomes are asymmetric
2. Child tax relief: PLN 1,112.04 a year for the first child, higher for further children
3. Single parent relief: a doubled tax-free amount (PLN 60,000 effectively)
4. Thermal modernisation relief: up to PLN 53,000 of deductions per dwelling
5. Rehabilitation relief, blood donation relief, internet relief: fixed-amount deductions from income

Attachments to PIT-36

• PIT/B: for each business (even a suspended one)
• PIT/O: all reliefs and deductions
• PIT/ZG: revenue from abroad
• PIT/M: child tax relief
• PIT/D: interest relief (old loans)

PIT-36L: the 19% flat tax

The form for those who chose the flat tax: a flat rate of 19% on every zloty of income, with no tax-free amount and no thresholds.

Who and why

The flat tax is chosen by entrepreneurs with higher incomes, for whom the scale would be painful (32% on the excess above PLN 120,000). The break-even point depends on your costs, reliefs and health insurance contribution. We will calculate it on your numbers. In return they give up:

• The tax-free amount (PLN 30,000)
• Child tax relief
• Joint taxation with a spouse
• Single parent relief
• The rehabilitation relief (with some exceptions)

What remains

• Social insurance contributions deductible from income
• A 4.9% health insurance contribution (vs 9% on the scale), much more favourable
• A solidarity levy of 4% on income above PLN 1 million a year
• R&D relief (for research and development activity)
• IP Box relief (5% for income from qualifying IP rights)

Attachments to PIT-36L

• PIT/B: each business
• PIT/ZG: foreign income
• PIT/BR: R&D relief (if you use it)
• PIT/IP: IP Box relief

Special cases

I have a sole trader business and a job

If the business is on the scale, everything goes in one PIT-36 (income from work goes into the “other sources” boxes). If the business is on the flat tax or registered lump-sum tax, you have two forms:

• PIT-36L (for the flat tax from the business) + PIT-37 (for work as an employee)
• or PIT-28 (for registered lump-sum tax from the business) + PIT-37 (for work)

I suspended the business

The return is filed for the income earned or the loss incurred. If in 2025 the business was suspended for the whole year and you had no revenue or costs, consult us on whether to file a form and which one.

I ended the sole trader business during the year

You file a PIT for the period in which you ran the business. You may also have an obligation to do a liquidation stocktake (for the scale and the flat tax). In PIT, the revenue from the liquidation stocktake is the goods (physical count). Fixed assets are a separate VAT matter (the VAT liquidation stocktake).

Two sources: a sole trader business + rental

A sole trader business on registered lump-sum tax + private rental at the 8.5% lump-sum rate = one PIT-28 (it covers both items). A sole trader business on the scale + rental at the 8.5% lump-sum rate = two forms: PIT-36 (business) + PIT-28 (rental).

How to file: e-Declarations or Your e-PIT

For some years there has been no obligation to file on paper, and everything is done online:

1. Your e-PIT (twoj-epit.podatki.gov.pl): automatic completion of data from PIT-11, PIT-8C and other sources. You only need to accept or correct it.
2. e-Declarations (podatki.gov.pl/e-deklaracje): an online form, free of charge, with error validation
3. Company accounting (Profais, other firms): we fill it in for the client, and the client only authorises it in online banking or with a Trusted Profile

Summary

Choosing the right form is half the success of the annual return. The other half is the completeness of the data (revenue, costs, contributions, advances paid) and the correct completion of the attachments. At Profais we prepare annual PITs for clients on the revenue and expense ledger (KPiR) and full accounting – the annual return is charged separately, according to the price list. If you do not yet have an accounting firm and 30 April is approaching, write to us. We will check whether we can prepare the return in time.

Sources: podatki.gov.pl/pit, twoj-epit.podatki.gov.pl, the PIT Act (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026, item 592) Articles 9a, 27, 30c, the Act on lump-sum income tax (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2025, item 843).