Start with one question: does your ETF even pay dividends?
Before you calculate anything, check which type of ETF you hold. It decides whether half this article applies to you at all.
| ETF type | What it does with dividends | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Accumulating ("Acc") | Reinvests them automatically inside the fund | You receive no payout, so there is no dividend to declare. You pay tax only when you sell |
| Distributing ("Dist") | Pays cash into your account | You declare the dividend every year, even if you never withdrew it |
You'll find this in the fund's full name or its factsheet. Popular funds like iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF (Acc) are accumulating — if that's what you hold, the dividend half of this article doesn't apply to you and you can skip straight to the sale.
Two different taxes, two different parts of the form
This is the most important thing to understand. An ETF can generate two different kinds of income, and they are settled in completely different ways.
| Selling an ETF at a profit | A dividend | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | art. 30b | art. 30a |
| Form section | Part C | Part G |
| Can you deduct costs? | Yes — purchase price and commissions | No. Tax is calculated on the gross amount |
| Does a loss help? | Yes, it can be carried into later years | There is no such thing as a "dividend loss" |
| Rate | 19% | 19% |
Remember this one above all: you cannot deduct anything from a dividend. The tax is calculated on the full gross amount, before any foreign tax was taken off.
Why you have to do this by hand
Polish brokerage houses send you a PIT-8C and report the same data to the tax office. Foreign brokers — Revolut, eToro, Interactive Brokers, Trading 212 — do not issue a PIT-8C.
Which means:
- nothing from your foreign account appears in the Twój e-PIT service,
- an empty pre-filled return does not release you from the obligation — the income still has to be declared,
- you calculate everything yourself, from the platform's report.
Withholding tax: where people quietly lose money
When a foreign company or fund pays a dividend, the source country usually takes its own tax before the money reaches you. That's withholding tax.
Under art. 30a(9) of the PIT Act you may deduct the tax paid abroad from your Polish tax — but the deduction cannot exceed 19% of that income.
And that's where the trap is.
| Situation | Withheld abroad | Credited in Poland | You top up | Lost for good |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US stocks/ETFs with a W-8BEN filed | 15% | 15% | 4% | 0% |
| US stocks/ETFs without W-8BEN | 30% | only 19% | 0% | 11% |
| Irish ETF (typical UCITS) | 0% | 0% | 19% | 0% |
The W-8BEN form is a declaration that you're a Polish tax resident. You file it with your broker, usually in a few minutes and free of charge. Without it the US withholds 30% instead of 15%, and the excess above 19% cannot be recovered on any tax return — that money is simply gone.
If you hold US stocks or ETFs and aren't sure whether your W-8BEN is on file, check with your broker today.
Ireland withholds nothing from UCITS distributions to non-residents — so with a distributing Irish ETF you pay the full 19% in Poland, but you lose nothing.
A worked example, step by step
You're a Polish tax resident using a foreign broker. Three things happened in 2024:
| Date | Event | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 March 2024 | Bought 10 ETF units at 100 EUR | 1,000 EUR + 2 EUR commission |
| 1 July 2024 | Dividend, 15% withholding tax | 20 EUR gross (3 EUR withheld) |
| 2 September 2024 | Sold 10 units at 110 EUR | 1,100 EUR − 2 EUR commission |
Every amount is converted at the average NBP rate from the last business day preceding the event.
Part 1: the sale (Part C of the form)
Revenue — the gross sale amount. Rate from 30 August (the Friday before Monday 2 September): 4.60
1,100 EUR × 4.60 = 5,060.00 PLN
Costs — the purchase price and both commissions, each at its own rate:
| Item | Amount | Rate | In PLN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase + commission (rate from 29 February) | 1,002 EUR | 4.40 | 4,408.80 |
| Sale commission (rate from 30 August) | 2 EUR | 4.60 | 9.20 |
| Total | 4,418.00 |
Income:
5,060.00 − 4,418.00 = 642.00 PLN
Tax — round the base first, then calculate:
642 × 19% = 121.98 → 122 PLN
Part 2: the dividend (Part G of the form)
NBP rate from 28 June (the Friday before Monday 1 July): 4.55
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Gross dividend in PLN | 20 EUR × 4.55 | 91.00 PLN |
| Polish tax at 19% | 91.00 × 19% | 17.29 PLN |
| Tax paid in the US | 3 EUR × 4.55 | 13.65 PLN |
| Deduction cap (19% of the income) | 17.29 PLN | |
| To top up in Poland | 17.29 − 13.65 | 3.64 → 4 PLN |
The foreign tax (13.65) fits inside the cap (17.29), so you credit all of it.
Without a W-8BEN: the US would withhold 30%, i.e. 6 EUR = 27.30 PLN. You could only credit 17.29 PLN, your top-up would be zero — but 10.01 PLN would be lost permanently.
Exactly where these numbers go
This is where online guides most often get it wrong, so these field numbers follow the Ministry of Finance brochure for the PIT-38 return for 2025.
Part C — the ETF sale
| Field | What it is | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Revenue (no PIT-8C) | 5,060 |
| 23 | Deductible costs | 4,418 |
| 26 | Total revenue | 5,060 |
| 27 | Total costs | 4,418 |
| 28 | Income | 642 |
| 31 | Tax base | 642 |
| 32 | Rate | 19% |
| 33 | Tax on income | 121.98 |
| 35 | Tax due (rounded) | 122 |
If you had a PIT-8C from a Polish broker, revenue and costs would go into fields 20 and 21 instead of 22 and 23.
Part G — the foreign dividend
| Field | What it is | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 47 | Flat-rate tax on foreign art. 30a(1)(1–5) income | 17.29 |
| 48 | Tax paid abroad (art. 30a(9)) | 13.65 |
| 49 | Difference to pay (rounded to whole PLN) | 4 |
Total due: 122 + 4 = 126 PLN.
Do you need the PIT/ZG attachment?
Short answer: not for a dividend alone.
The brochure states that PIT/ZG is filed by people who earned foreign income under art. 30b (5a) and (5b), and (5e) and (5f) — that is, capital gains and crypto, where they're crediting tax paid abroad.
Dividends are settled under art. 30a, which doesn't appear in that list. You report the dividend credit directly in field 48, with no attachment.
You will need PIT/ZG if you paid foreign tax on a gain from selling securities. In that case you file one separately for each country.
Common mistakes
- Deducting costs from a dividend. You can't. The tax is on the gross amount.
- Entering the net dividend. The base is the amount before withholding tax, not what landed in your account.
- Adding up currencies. Don't add euros to dollars. Convert each transaction separately into złoty, then sum the złoty.
- Using the transaction-day rate. Always take the rate from the preceding day.
- Skipping small dividends. A 2 EUR payment is income too and still has to be declared.
- Copying your broker's report. It's in foreign currency and knows nothing about NBP rates. It's source material, not a finished calculation.
Before you file
- Did you check whether your ETF is accumulating or distributing?
- Is your W-8BEN on file, if you invest in the US?
- Are dividends declared gross, in Part G?
- Is the sale declared in Part C, with costs and commissions?
- Is every amount converted at the rate from the preceding day?
- Do you need a PIT/ZG — one per country?
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. 30a and 30b of the PIT Act. It is not tax advice. Withholding rates come from double taxation treaties and vary by country — check what your broker actually withheld.