One definition that everything else follows from
Poland's crypto rules are simpler than they look, because they rest on a single sentence in art. 17(1f) of the PIT Act. The Ministry of Finance brochure quotes it directly:
Disposal of virtual currency for consideration means the exchange of virtual currency for legal tender, goods, services or a property right other than virtual currency, or the settlement of other obligations with virtual currency.
Read the phrase "other than virtual currency" carefully. That's what makes exchanging one cryptocurrency for another not a disposal — and therefore not a taxable event.
What is and isn't a taxable event
| What you do | Taxable? |
|---|---|
| BTC → ETH | No |
| ETH → USDT (stablecoin) | No |
| Holding crypto while it rises | No |
| Moving coins between your own wallets | No |
| BTC → PLN, EUR, USD | Yes |
| Paying for goods or services with crypto | Yes |
| Paying with crypto for something that isn't crypto (an NFT, a service) | Yes |
| Settling a debt with crypto | Yes |
So you can make a thousand trades between coins and owe nothing, right up until you leave the crypto ecosystem.
That's a meaningful difference from many countries, where every swap is a taxable event.
What about stablecoins?
Stablecoins like USDT and USDC are treated as just another virtual currency, not as money. Exchanging BTC for USDT is therefore tax neutral.
It's worth knowing that the EU's MiCA regulation classified some stablecoins as "e-money tokens", which raised the question of whether they fall outside the virtual currency definition. The Polish tax information service (KIS) has confirmed that for income tax purposes the existing approach still stands — swapping crypto for a stablecoin remains neutral.
This is an area that moves, though. If you trade large amounts, follow the topic or apply for your own individual tax ruling.
Crypto is calculated differently from shares
If you've read our article on FIFO, set it aside for a moment. For cryptocurrency there is no FIFO, no layers, and no matching a cost to a particular sale.
The rule is much simpler — and it covers the whole year at once:
All revenue for the year − all costs for the year = income
It doesn't matter which specific coin you sold or when you bought it. You add up everything you sold for fiat during the year and subtract everything you spent acquiring crypto during that year.
What counts as a cost
Under art. 22(14) of the PIT Act, only these count:
- documented expenses incurred directly on acquiring the virtual currency, and
- costs connected with its disposal, including fees paid to crypto exchanges and bureaux.
So exchange commissions on buying and selling are deductible. Mining rigs, graphics cards and electricity are not — they don't relate to acquiring a specific coin.
Costs count even in a year when you sold nothing
This surprises a lot of people. The brochure states plainly that Part E is also completed by taxpayers who incurred costs even though they had no revenue from disposing of crypto that year.
If all you did in 2025 was buy, and you sold nothing — file the PIT-38 with Part E anyway. Otherwise you lose the right to use those costs later.
A worked example, step by step
Here's 2025, assuming some of your buying happened earlier.
| When | What happened | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Bought BTC for 40,000 PLN | cost from a previous year |
| June 2025 | Swapped all the BTC for ETH | neutral — ignore it |
| September 2025 | Bought more ETH for 10,000 PLN | 2025 cost |
| December 2025 | Sold the ETH for 75,000 PLN | 2025 revenue |
We assume the 2024 cost wasn't used earlier — you declared it on your 2024 return and it carried forward.
| Field | What it is | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | Revenue from disposing of crypto in 2025 | 75,000 |
| 37 | Costs incurred in 2025 | 10,000 |
| 38 | Unused costs from previous years (field 38 of the 2024 return) | 40,000 |
| 39 | Income = 36 − (37 + 38) | 25,000 |
| 40 | Excess costs carried to next year | 0 |
The June BTC → ETH swap doesn't appear anywhere. It isn't a disposal, so it creates neither revenue nor cost.
The tax (Part F)
| Field | What it is | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 41 | Tax base (field 39, rounded) | 25,000 |
| 42 | Rate | 19% |
| 43 | Tax on income | 4,750 |
| 44 | Tax paid abroad | 0 |
| 45 | Tax due | 4,750 |
If you'd sold the ETH for USDT rather than złoty, field 36 would be 0 and the whole 50,000 PLN of costs would roll into next year in field 40.
Amounts in foreign currency
If you sell crypto for dollars or euros, the same rule applies as for shares: the average NBP rate from the last business day preceding the transaction. You can look it up in our currency converter.
Grey areas — tread carefully
Not everything here is settled. The following are genuinely disputed and you won't find them in the brochure:
- Staking and lending — are rewards income when received, or only when sold for fiat?
- Airdrops — sometimes classified as income from "other sources", taxed on the progressive scale rather than as crypto.
- Mining — mining a coin generally isn't income in itself, but you then have no acquisition cost for it. When you sell, you're taxed on the full amount.
- NFTs — an NFT is not a virtual currency under these rules, so buying one with crypto is a disposal of that crypto, and therefore a taxable event.
If any of these apply to you at meaningful amounts, that's the moment to talk to a tax adviser or request an individual ruling. Better to ask early than explain later.
Good practice
- Export your history from every exchange — CSV from Binance, Kraken, Revolut and anywhere else you've used. Exchanges shut down, and then you're left with no documentation.
- Keep proof of purchases from years ago. If you bought BTC in 2021 and sell it today, you have to document that cost. Without it you enter 0 and pay tax on the entire proceeds.
- Consider a tax tool (Koinly, CoinTracking) if you have many transactions — but check that it applies Polish rules rather than FIFO.
- File Part E every year, including years when you only bought.
Before you file
- Did you leave out every crypto-to-crypto swap?
- Did you total up the whole year, rather than matching costs to particular sales?
- Did you carry field 40 from last year's return into field 38 this year?
- Did you include exchange commissions in your costs?
- Is crypto in Part E, and are shares in Part C?
The return for 2025 is filed between 15 February and 30 April 2026.
This article is educational and is based on the Ministry of Finance information brochure for the PIT-38 return for 2025 and on art. 17(1f) and art. 22(14) of the PIT Act. It is not tax advice. The treatment of staking, airdrops and NFTs is contested — for significant amounts, consult a tax adviser.