Mistakes happen — and they can be fixed
You filed your PIT-38 and then realised something was wrong. Maybe you let Twój e-PIT auto-accept the return and forgot the foreign app. Maybe you left out broker fees, or used the wrong NBP rate.
The good news: you don't need anyone's permission to fix it. Under art. 81 of the Tax Ordinance, you have the right to correct your own return. You do it by filing a correction (korekta) — the same form again, with the right numbers.
What the law says
The Ministry of Finance brochure covers this in Part A of the form:
- Art. 81 § 1 of the Tax Ordinance gives you the right to correct the data in a return you've filed.
- Art. 81 § 2 says you do it by filing a correcting return.
- For this purpose a "declaration" also means a tax return such as PIT-38 (art. 3(5)).
There's one limit: the right to correct can be suspended. The brochure points to the Tax Ordinance and the National Revenue Administration Act for the details. In practice, this happens when the tax office has opened a tax audit or proceedings covering that return.
Filling in the correction: fields 6 and 7
A correction is a complete PIT-38 — every field filled in, with the corrected figures — not just the lines that changed. What makes it a correction are two boxes in Part A:
| Field | What you tick | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Box 2 | This is a correction, not an original return |
| 7 | Box 1 | An ordinary correction under art. 81 of the Tax Ordinance |
Field 7 has a second option, box 2 — a correction filed during proceedings on tax avoidance (art. 81b § 1a). Tick it only if you're a party to such proceedings and have received the notice under art. 200 § 3 of the Tax Ordinance. That correction must also come with a justification. If you've never heard of any of this, it's box 1.
How to file it
The same ways as the original return:
- Twój e-PIT — the brochure confirms corrections can be filed there too. Filed corrections and their UPO appear in the "Złożone dokumenty" (filed documents) tab.
- e-Deklaracje or the "Deklaracje" tab in e-Urząd Skarbowy.
- On paper, at the tax office or by post.
This also works if your original return was auto-accepted on 30 April. An auto-accepted return counts as filed, so you correct it like any other.
Keep the UPO for the correction — it's your proof that it was filed.
A worked example: you forgot a foreign broker
Your pre-filled return was auto-accepted on 30 April 2026, and you paid the tax. It only had your Polish broker's PIT-8C. In July you remember an investment app abroad where you sold shares: revenue 5,000 PLN, costs 3,500 PLN (already converted into złoty).
| Field | Original return | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Box 1 (return) | Box 2 (correction) |
| 7 | — | Box 1 |
| 20 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| 21 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 22 | 0 | 5,000 |
| 23 | 0 | 3,500 |
| 26 | 12,000 | 17,000 |
| 27 | 10,000 | 13,500 |
| 28 | 2,000 | 3,500 |
| 35 | 380 | 665 |
You owe another 285 PLN. Because the tax was due on 30 April, late-payment interest (odsetki za zwłokę) runs on that 285 PLN from 1 May until the day you pay. Pay the difference with interest as soon as you file the correction.
The other direction: you forgot costs
Say instead that you forgot 600 PLN of account and transfer fees linked to the PIT-8C revenue.
| Field | Original return | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | 10,000 | 10,600 |
| 27 | 10,000 | 10,600 |
| 28 | 2,000 | 1,400 |
| 35 | 380 | 266 |
You paid 114 PLN too much. That's an overpayment (nadpłata), and you can get it refunded. Make sure the tax office has your current bank account: Part M of the form updates the account used for refunds, and if none was ever given, the refund goes out by postal order.
What a correction does — and doesn't — protect you from
These rules come from the Tax Ordinance and the Fiscal Penal Code, not from the brochure:
- Late-payment interest still applies. A correction doesn't remove interest on tax you paid late. The Tax Ordinance (art. 56) does give a reduced interest rate if you file the correction within 6 months of the deadline and pay the arrears within 7 days of filing it.
- Penal liability. Under art. 16a of the Fiscal Penal Code, an offence linked to the error generally isn't punished if you file a proper correction and pay the tax due straight away — before the tax office has started an audit or proceedings on it.
- How long you have. You can correct a return until the tax liability becomes time-barred — generally 5 years from the end of the year in which the tax was due. For the 2025 return, tax was due in 2026, so that's until the end of 2031.
The sooner you correct, the cheaper it is.
The 1.5% donation still counts — if you're quick
If you're donating 1.5% of your tax to a public benefit organisation (OPP, fields 66–67), the brochure says it still goes through when it comes from a correction filed within one month of the filing deadline. You also have to pay the tax due in full within two months of the deadline.
The donation is 1.5% of your tax due (fields 35 and 45), rounded down to 10 groszy. If the correction changes your tax, update field 67 to match.
Correction or late return?
A correction fixes a return that was filed. If you never filed a PIT-38 for a year — for example, you thought a crypto loss didn't need declaring — there's nothing to correct. You file the return for that year late, as an original return (field 6, box 1).
This matters for crypto: excess costs only carry forward through returns that were actually filed. Filing the missing year late is how you repair the chain. See How to carry crypto costs forward.
Common reasons to correct
- A foreign broker or app left out, often because the pre-filled return was auto-accepted. See Twój e-PIT and PIT-8C.
- Costs missing from PIT-8C — account fees, transfers, loan interest. See What can you deduct in PIT-38?.
- The wrong NBP rate — the rate from the day of the transaction instead of the business day before it.
- A stock loss you forgot to deduct in field 30. See Stock losses in PIT-38.
- Crypto costs not carried forward in field 38.
- Foreign dividends or interest missing from Part G.
Before you file
- Is it a correction (the return was filed) or a late return (it wasn't)?
- Field 6 — box 2? Field 7 — box 1?
- Is every field filled in, not just the ones that changed?
- If you owe more: have you paid the difference plus interest?
- If you paid too much: is your refund account up to date?
- If you're donating 1.5%: is field 67 updated, and are you within a month of the deadline?
- Have you saved the UPO for the correction?
This article is educational and is based on the Ministry of Finance information brochure for the PIT-38 return for 2025, on art. 56, 70 and 81 of the Tax Ordinance and on art. 16a of the Fiscal Penal Code. It is not tax advice.