How to use this guide
The PIT-38 form has fifteen parts, A to O, and about eighty fields. Most people only ever fill in a handful of them. This guide goes through the form in order and tells you, for each part:
- who fills it in,
- what goes in each field — using the field numbers of the 2025 form,
- where to read more, if one of our guides covers it in detail.
Everything here comes from the Ministry of Finance information brochure for the 2025 PIT-38. If you're not sure whether you need the form at all, start with Do I need to file PIT-38?.
Field numbers change from year to year. The numbers below are for the return for 2025, filed in 2026. Don't copy them blindly into a return for another year.
Three rules for the whole form
1. Foreign currency goes into złoty at the NBP rate from the day before. Revenue, costs, foreign tax and anything else in a foreign currency is converted at the NBP average rate from the last business day before the day you earned the revenue, incurred the cost or paid the tax (art. 11a of the PIT Act). See What can you deduct in PIT-38?.
2. An empty amount field means zero. If you leave an amount blank, the tax office treats it as "0".
3. Some fields must be filled in. Above all your tax ID in field 1 — the return isn't valid without it.
The header: field 1 — tax ID
Field 1 is your PESEL or your NIP. You use your PESEL if in 2025 you:
- didn't run a registered business,
- weren't registered for VAT,
- weren't a payer — of tax or social and health contributions, for example as an employer,
- or ran only unregistered activity (działalność nierejestrowa), without VAT registration or a cash register.
If any of those isn't true, use your NIP.
Part A — where and why you're filing
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 5 | Your tax office |
| 6 | Purpose: box 1 — a return, box 2 — a correction |
| 7 | Only for a correction: box 1 — an ordinary correction (art. 81 of the Tax Ordinance), box 2 — a correction during tax-avoidance proceedings |
Which tax office (field 5):
- You live in Poland: the office for your place of residence on the day you file. If you moved abroad before filing, the office for your last residence in Poland.
- You don't live in Poland: the office that handles the taxation of foreign persons.
More in Correcting a PIT-38.
Part B — about you
Your surname, first name, date of birth and current home address. Nothing to calculate.
Part C — shares, ETFs, bonds, derivatives: revenue and costs
This is where sales of securities, derivatives, shares in companies and investment fund units go. Revenue arises when ownership passes to the buyer — even if you haven't been paid yet. For fund units, it arises when the money is paid out or made available to you.
The part has four rows.
Row 1 — from a PIT-8C
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 20 | Revenue — the amount from field 35 of the PIT-8C |
| 21 | Costs — field 36 of the PIT-8C, plus related costs the broker didn't include, from your own documents |
Row 2 — everything without a PIT-8C
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 22 | Revenue with no PIT-8C — including revenue earned abroad |
| 23 | The costs of that revenue, from your own documents |
Costs include the purchase price of what you sold, broker commissions on the purchase and the sale, account fees, and interest on a loan used to buy the securities. Shares you inherited cost what the deceased paid for them. Shares you were given cost 0 PLN — but the gain is tax-free up to the inheritance and gift tax you paid on them.
Which shares count as sold first — and why — is in Cost basis and FIFO. How rows 1 and 2 fit together is in Twój e-PIT and PIT-8C.
Row 3 — tax-free gains on shares from an IPO
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 24 | Revenue from selling shares bought in an initial public offering after 31 December 2021 |
| 25 | The costs of that revenue |
The gain is tax-free (art. 21(1)(105a)) if you sold the shares more than three years after they were admitted to trading, and you weren't related to the company in the two years before buying them. Include these amounts in rows 1 or 2 as usual — row 3 is what takes them out again.
Row 4 — the result
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 26 | Total revenue: field 20 + field 22 − field 24 |
| 27 | Total costs: field 21 + field 23 − field 25 |
| 28 | Income, if revenue is higher than costs |
| 29 | Loss, if costs are higher than revenue |
Part D — the tax on shares and other securities
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 30 | Losses from 2020–2024 you're deducting this year — never more than field 28 |
| 31 | Tax base: field 28 − field 30, rounded to whole złoty |
| 32 | Rate: 19% |
| 33 | Tax: field 31 × 19% |
| 34 | Tax paid abroad on this income, in złoty — up to the limit below |
| 35 | Tax due, rounded to whole złoty |
The foreign tax limit (field 34). You can't deduct more foreign tax than the Polish tax on the foreign part of your income:
limit = Polish tax on all income × foreign income ÷ total income
If you deduct foreign tax here, you'll also need a PIT/ZG attachment (see Part L).
Losses (field 30). You can deduct each year's loss over the next five years — at most 50% of it per year, or once, up to 5,000,000 PLN. See Stock losses in PIT-38.
Non-residents. A lower rate from a double tax treaty applies only if you have a certificate of residence.
Part E — crypto: revenue and costs
Fill this in if in 2025 you sold crypto, or had crypto costs, or are carrying unused crypto costs from earlier years — even with no revenue.
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 36 | Revenue from disposing of crypto in 2025 — exchanging it for money, goods, services or rights other than crypto, or paying with it |
| 37 | Crypto costs incurred in 2025 — what you paid to acquire crypto, plus documented costs of selling it, including exchange fees |
| 38 | Unused crypto costs from earlier years — the amount from field 38 of your 2024 return |
| 39 | Income: field 36 − (field 37 + field 38), if positive |
| 40 | Excess costs: (field 37 + field 38) − field 36, if positive — carried into next year's return |
Swapping one crypto for another is neither revenue nor a cost. Crypto never goes in Part C, and losses on shares can't reduce crypto income, or the other way round.
More in Crypto gains, Crypto losses and Carrying crypto costs forward.
Part F — the tax on crypto
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 41 | Tax base: field 39, rounded to whole złoty |
| 42 | Rate: 19% |
| 43 | Tax: field 41 × 19% |
| 44 | Tax paid abroad on crypto income, in złoty — limited in the same way as field 34 |
| 45 | Tax due, rounded to whole złoty |
Part G — dividends, interest, and the total to pay
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 46 | Flat-rate tax (art. 29, 30 and 30a) that no payer withheld — except what goes in field 47 or Part H. For example, interest on a loan you gave to a private person |
| 47 | Flat-rate tax on foreign interest, dividends and fund payouts (art. 30a(1)(1–5)) |
| 48 | Tax paid abroad on that income (art. 30a(9)) |
| 49 | The difference: field 47 − field 48 |
| 50 | Advances paid to a real-estate company on selling your rights in it |
| 51 | Tax to pay |
| 52 | Overpayment — only when the advances in field 50 exceed the tax in this return |
Rounding. Fields 46 and 49 are rounded to whole złoty — except the flat-rate tax on art. 30a(1)(1–3) income, which is rounded up to the full grosz (art. 63 § 1a of the Tax Ordinance).
Pay the amount in field 51 by 30 April 2026.
More in ETF income and dividends and Interest from a foreign savings account.
Part H — flat-rate tax paid by non-residents
Only for people who don't live in Poland and earn income in Poland under art. 29 of the PIT Act (for example, certain fees and royalties) without a payer to withhold the tax. They pay the tax themselves by the 20th of the following month; December's tax is due by the filing deadline. This part reports those payments. Most investors leave it empty.
Part I — income reported under art. 45(3c)
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 65 | For Polish tax residents: interest, discount on securities, dividends or fund payouts on which a payer collected the tax under art. 30a(2a) |
Art. 30a(2a) covers securities held through omnibus accounts, where the payer collects tax on behalf of unidentified holders. If you've never heard of it, this field doesn't apply to you.
Part J — 1.5% for a public benefit organisation (OPP)
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 66 | The KRS number of one OPP |
| 67 | The amount — at most 1.5% of fields 35 + 45, rounded down to 10 groszy |
| 68 | Optional: a specific purpose for the money |
| 69 | Optional: tick to share your name, address and the amount with the OPP |
It works only if you file on time (or correct within a month of the deadline) and pay the tax in full within two months of the deadline. The list of OPPs is on niw.gov.pl.
Part K — contact details
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 70 | Phone number — optional |
| 71 | Email address — optional |
Part L — attachments
How many PIT/ZG attachments you're filing. PIT/ZG reports foreign income and the tax paid abroad on it, for income in Parts D and F where you deduct foreign tax. File one PIT/ZG per country.
PIT/ZG is not needed for dividends and interest in Part G.
Part M — refund account
Only matters if you have an overpayment.
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 73 | Only for a foreign account: the country of the bank |
| 74 | The account's currency code |
| 75 | The IBAN, starting with a two-letter country code (a Polish IBAN is PL + 26 digits) |
The SWIFT code is needed only for a foreign account. The account must be yours (or held jointly with you), not a business account. An account given here replaces the one previously on file. If you leave Part M empty, a refund goes to the account previously on file — or, if there isn't one, by postal order.
Part N — Large Family Card
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 76 | Tick if you hold a valid Large Family Card (Karta Dużej Rodziny) |
Part O — signature
| Field | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 77 | Your signature |
| 78 | The signature of a proxy, if someone signs on your behalf |
A proxy needs a power of attorney already lodged with the tax office. For electronic returns, it's lodged with the office in charge of your taxpayer registration; if the power of attorney is electronic, it goes to the Head of the National Revenue Administration (Szef KAS). If a proxy signs, you don't need to.
How it all adds up
- Shares and other securities: Part C → Part D → field 35
- Crypto: Part E → Part F → field 45
- Untaxed dividends, interest and other flat-rate income: Part G → fields 46 and 49
- Total: Part G → field 51, minus any real-estate company advances in field 50
The two 19% calculations — shares and crypto — are completely separate. A loss in one never reduces income in the other.
Before you file
- Field 1: PESEL or NIP — the right one?
- Field 5: the right tax office? Field 6: return or correction?
- Every foreign amount converted at the NBP rate from the previous business day?
- PIT-8C amounts in row 1, everything else in row 2?
- Crypto in Part E, not Part C?
- Foreign dividends and interest in Part G?
- A PIT/ZG for each country where you deducted foreign tax in Parts D or F?
- Tax in field 51 paid by 30 April 2026?
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. It is not tax advice.