Cryptocurrency in Poland: taxes, PIT-38, and legal withdrawal to bank card

What is cryptocurrency legally in Poland

Under Polish law, cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is not equivalent to the złoty. It falls under the definition of waluta wirtualna — virtual currency — and is treated as a separate type of property. Ownership of coins does not create a tax liability; rather, transactions with them — selling for złoty, using to pay for goods, receiving as compensation — do.

Oversight is distributed among authorities. The registry of virtual currency service providers is maintained by the tax administration, market behavior is monitored by the Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (KNF), and anti-money laundering is the domain of the Generalny Inspektor Informacji Finansowej (GIIF), which receives reports of suspicious transactions from exchanges.

Above the national level sits a European framework. The MiCA regulation unified rules for cryptocurrency service providers across the European Union: licensing, capital requirements, client transparency. AML rules and the Travel Rule also apply — requiring exchanges to establish and transmit sender and recipient data during transfers, just as in standard bank transfers. Starting in 2026, the DAC8 directive takes effect along with the CARF standard: crypto exchanges will automatically report client transaction data to the tax authorities of the client's country of residence.

The practical conclusion is simple: the era when a crypto account was invisible to the state has ended. In coming years, exchanges will begin automatically reporting client turnover to the tax authority. For more details, see the page on cryptocurrency in Poland.

How to legalize existing assets

For most readers, this is not a theoretical question but a practical problem right now: someone has held coins for years, bought them on older exchanges, sold some — and never once reported it in a declaration. The question is not "what if I declare correctly next year," but "what do I do about the past."

The answer starts with reconstructing transaction history. Most exchanges allow you to download a complete transaction history — purchases, sales, transfers, fees. This is the foundation that shows when and at what price coins were bought and sold, which operations were taxable events, and which were simply moving coins between your own wallets. If assets touched multiple exchanges or wallets, the history must be consolidated chronologically, otherwise the tax base will be calculated incorrectly.

The harder case is when the first purchase happened so long ago that no documentation remains: the exchange closed, the account was deleted. Then history is reconstructed with indirect evidence: bank statements showing transfers to the exchange, wallet history on the blockchain. Where exact cost cannot be confirmed, a conservative calculation is applied that will withstand audit.

Once you see which years and amounts went undeclared, you face a choice: file a corrected declaration yourself, getting ahead of an audit, or wait for the tax authority to raise the question. Polish law provides a tool for the first path — czynny żal, active repentance: an official request to the urząd skarbowy in which the taxpayer self-reports the violation, files a corrected declaration, and pays the tax owed. If conditions are met, this removes criminal-tax liability for income concealment. The key condition is that the request must be filed before the tax authority begins its own audit: once an audit starts, this path closes.

When tax arises and what form to file

Income from cryptocurrency does not arise at every coin movement, but at clearly defined moments. Selling cryptocurrency for złoty or other traditional currency is a taxable event: this is przychody z odpłatnego zbycia walut wirtualnych, income from paid transfer of virtual currency. Exchanging one cryptocurrency for another is tax-neutral: the transaction itself does not create income as long as coins are not converted to fiat or used to pay for goods, services, or satisfy obligations.

Staking or mining rewards are counted as income at the moment of receipt, and subsequent sale of received coins is a separate event; the same applies to airdrops. NFTs stand apart: they do not always fall under the same regime, so transactions with them should be evaluated separately. Salary or freelance payment in cryptocurrency is taxed as ordinary income at the time of receipt at the market rate, and subsequent sale is already a separate event.

The tax base is the difference between the sale amount and documented acquisition costs — this is koszty uzyskania przychodu: the price of purchasing coins, exchange fees. If costs exceed income, the difference does not disappear but carries forward to future years. Losses are offset against profits in subsequent years, but only within the category of virtual currency income, not against other income.

Unlike some neighboring countries, Poland has no preferential rate for holding coins long-term — the holding period does not change the tax regime. The specific rate is set for each tax year separately, so the current rate should be checked just before filing the declaration. The form for declaring such income is PIT-38 — the annual declaration for capital income, which includes virtual currency transactions. The filing deadline is tied to the general declaration deadline — by the end of April of the year following the tax year.

This topic naturally continues the broader picture of tax obligations for those doing business or freelancing in Poland — including how ZUS contributions and KSeF electronic invoicing are structured, covered in more detail in the article on business, taxes, ZUS, and KSeF in Poland.

How to legally withdraw funds to a bank card

The question most readers actually come with: how do I get money from selling cryptocurrency to an ordinary bank card without problems later. The realistic chain: sell on a verified exchange where the account is confirmed in your own name — transfer via SEPA to a bank account in that same person's name — and from there funds are available on the card. Each link leaves a paper trail that can be shown to the bank or tax authority if needed.

The temptation to shortcut — selling coins for cash, or asking to transfer proceeds to a relative's account — destroys the very thing that makes the transaction legal: the paper trail. Cash transactions leave no record of source, and transfers to someone else's account look to the bank like structuring, even if the intention was innocent.

When funds come from a verified exchange, the bank reacts based on amount and frequency. A single transfer rarely raises questions. But a series of growing transfers or regular deposits without a clear pattern — a typical trigger for a compliance department query: where do the funds come from, are they declared.

Being ready for such a query means a file prepared in advance: transaction history from the exchange for the period, proof that the account is verified in the same name as your bank account, a copy of the filed PIT-38, and a brief explanatory letter about asset origin. Such a file is prepared once and used for any bank or notary.

Responsibility for non-declaration

Undeclared cryptocurrency income does not stay hidden forever — it is only a matter of when it surfaces: during an audit, through data matching with the bank, or automatically when CARF and DAC8 data exchange kicks in. The lightest consequence is financial: a penalty for late payment and a fine for late filing. The Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa has the right to review past years within the statute of limitations set by law — so history from years ago does not "disappear" simply because time has passed.

A more serious turn comes when the scale and nature of concealment cross the line where the matter shifts from purely tax to criminal-tax: non-declaration of income above a certain threshold, set annually separately, qualifies as an act under criminal-tax law provisions, not as a formal violation of deadline. The exact threshold and sanctions are tied to indicators reviewed annually, so the figure must be checked for the current year.

It is at this stage, when the matter goes beyond the purely administrative, that the lawyer-advocate pairing works best: the client tells the lawyer the situation in plain language — when bought, when sold, why not reported on time — the lawyer translates this into a clear legal position for the advocate, permitted to practice before Polish authorities, directs the advocate's work in the direction the client truly needs, and controls the case so it does not get bogged down in formalities.

Why banks block transfers and how to respond

A blocked transfer or "frozen" account after funds arrive from a crypto exchange is one of the most common practical problems even for those who hid nothing. The banking system must monitor transactions for signs of money laundering, and the source "cryptocurrency" automatically raises compliance department attention — regardless of whether the income is legitimate or not.

A typical bank query includes: a document proving the identity of the owner of both accounts; exchange transaction statements; an explanation of where the initial funds came from; and, if the income should have already been declared, proof of the filed declaration. A formal response like "this is crypto" without documents will not satisfy the bank.

A suitable response looks different: a chronologically built history — when and at what funds you purchased assets, when you sold, where the money went, proof of declaration where it should have occurred.

If the bank still refuses service without clear grounds, the refusal can be challenged — first through an internal bank complaint, and if necessary through out-of-court financial consumer protection mechanisms. A documented complaint with a complete package of proof is far more effective than repeated calls to support without new evidence.

How the firm handles cryptocurrency cases

Each step described above can be done alone — but it is precisely where the cost of error is highest that the sequence most often breaks down. Dorosh & Partners handles cryptocurrency cases for clients in Poland from the first stage of reconstructing transaction history to defense if the tax authority has already opened an audit.

The first step is complete reconstruction of transaction history: downloading data from all the client's exchanges and wallets, consolidating them into a single chronology, separating taxable events from internal coin movements between the client's own wallets, which are not subject to tax. Where part of the history is lost, the firm works with available indirect evidence so the final picture is protected in an audit.

Based on the reconstruction, a PIT-38 declaration is prepared for the current year and, if needed, a package of corrected declarations along with czynny żal for past periods — so the request to the urząd skarbowy is filed on time, before any audit begins, and with a calculation that will not need to be corrected again.

A separate direction is preparing a file of proof of source of funds for a bank or notary: complete transaction statement, proof of exchange account ownership, copies of filed declarations, cover letter. The firm prepares such a file in advance, before the bank raises the question, not in panic mode after account freezing. The withdrawal of funds itself is also planned — the sequence of transfers, amounts, timing — so the operation looks transparent to compliance.

Where the client wants not just to withdraw funds once but to systematically hold and use crypto assets within their own business, the firm helps structure ownership legally: properly set up accounts, reporting coordinated with the company's accounting and tax record-keeping. More about financial support for business is on the page about finance for business in Poland.

If the tax authority has already opened an audit, the firm takes over communication with the Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa, prepares the position and documents, and accompanies the client at each step of the case review. You should start with a consultation, at which the situation is assessed — volume of assets, years needing attention — and an action plan is formed.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to declare cryptocurrency if I just hold it and never sold it?

Simply holding coins without selling, exchanging for other cryptocurrency for fiat, or using to pay does not create a tax liability in Poland that must be declared in PIT-38. The obligation arises at the moment of a taxable event. However, data about fund movements on the exchange is already accumulating and will in the future be automatically transmitted to tax authorities, so silence should not be confused with the absence of obligation in the future.

Is exchanging one cryptocurrency for another taxable?

No, exchanging one virtual currency for another is tax-neutral and does not in itself create income subject to declaration. A taxable event occurs only when coins are converted to fiat currency, used to pay for goods or services, or to satisfy an obligation.

What do I do if I cannot confirm the cost of my first cryptocurrency purchase from many years ago?

Lack of direct proof is a common situation and does not mean legalization is impossible. History can be reconstructed from indirect evidence: bank statements showing transfers to the exchange, wallet history on the blockchain, preserved correspondence with the platform. Where the exact amount remains unknown, a conservative calculation of the tax base is applied that withstands further audit.

Can I avoid a fine if I file a corrected declaration myself?

Yes, there is a mechanism for this — czynny żal, active repentance. If a taxpayer self-reports the violation, files a corrected declaration, and pays the tax owed before the tax authority begins its own audit, this removes criminal-tax liability for income concealment. Once an audit has begun, this path is no longer available, so action should be taken in advance.

My bank blocked my account after funds arrived from a crypto exchange — what should I do first?

Do not ignore the bank's request or respond without preparation. The best strategy is to assemble a complete package of proof: exchange transaction statement, proof that the account is verified in your name, explanation of where the initial funds came from, and if the income should have been declared, proof of the filed declaration. A thorough, well-documented response significantly speeds up the removal of the freeze.

Матеріал має інформаційний характер і не замінює юридичну консультацію.