Publication date: November 02, 2026
Legislative status as at 30 September 2026 | Government Bill UD447 | Sejm Paper No. 3148
Poland’s proposed reform of family foundation taxation would raise the cost of distributions and narrow exemptions for asset disposals, property letting and certain investment structures. Although the government has softened parts of its original proposal, the revised bill would still materially affect succession planning: its two-year holding period can last almost three years in practice, while protection for previously contributed assets would not preserve the existing tax rate on future distributions. For founders and beneficiaries, the detail of the transitional rules may be as important as the headline increase from 15% to 19%.
The government bill amending the Personal Income Tax Act and the Corporate Income Tax Act, registered as UD447, was submitted to the Sejm as Paper No. 3148 dated 29 September 2026. It proposes changes to the taxation of family foundations rather than a new Family Foundation Act. The proposed commencement date is 1 January 2027. The measures described below remain proposals and are not yet law. [1–2]
Proposed Article 6(8)(2) of the Corporate Income Tax Act would exclude revenue from the disposal of property contributed or transferred gratuitously to a family foundation from the foundation’s exemption if the disposal occurs before two years have elapsed from the end of the calendar year of contribution or transfer. An exception would apply to disposals made pursuant to an order of a public authority. The provision would not prohibit an earlier sale; it would remove the exemption for revenue from that transaction. [1, Article 2(1)]
For example, if shares were contributed on 15 February 2027, the period would expire at the end of 2029, with a sale from 1 January 2030 falling outside this particular restriction. The actual waiting period would therefore be almost three years. Referring simply to a “two-year holding period” obscures the practical effect of the calculation. Expiry of that period would not guarantee freedom from all taxes: the rules on distributions and the other conditions governing tax relief would remain relevant.
The scope of the rule is also important. It concerns contributed or gratuitously transferred property and does not impose a universal two-year holding requirement on every asset purchased by a foundation in the course of its investment activities. Under the transitional provision, the new rule would apply to property contributed or transferred from the foundation’s tax year beginning after 31 December 2026. [1, Article 3(2)(1)]
The bill would increase the rate under Article 24q(1) of the Corporate Income Tax Act from 15% to 19%. The increase would cover benefits provided to beneficiaries, property distributed in connection with a foundation’s dissolution and so-called hidden profits. This is a tax payable by the foundation. The personal income tax treatment of the recipient remains a separate question. [1, Article 2(4)]
For a taxable base of PLN 1 million, the tax calculated at this rate would rise from PLN 150,000 to PLN 190,000 before any applicable deductions. The additional PLN 40,000 represents an increase of approximately 26.7% in the amount of tax. Financial projections should therefore distinguish between tax on the foundation’s activities, tax on distributions and any personal income tax payable by a beneficiary.
The proposed amendment would exclude revenue from letting residential buildings, residential premises or parts thereof from the exemption unless the foundation lets them directly and exclusively for residential purposes. The foundation would bear the burden of proving that these conditions are met. A separate exclusion would cover other buildings, premises or parts thereof designated for overnight accommodation. [1, Article 2(1)]
Describing the proposal solely as a clarification of short-term letting would therefore understate its scope. The wording indicates that arrangements involving an operator, as well as the actual purpose for which premises are used, would also matter. The duration of a lease alone would not determine eligibility for the exemption. Foundations holding property should review both their contractual arrangements and how those arrangements operate in practice, including the evidence available to substantiate residential use.
The definition of hidden profits would be extended to receivables owed by a founder, beneficiary or an entity related to either of them or to the foundation where those receivables are forgiven, become time-barred or are written off as uncollectible. Loan receivables would also be covered. The bill would prevent the same value from being classified again as hidden profits where it has already been caught by the specified provisions on loans. [1, Article 2(4)(b)]
The rules on unreturned loans would also extend to a broader range of borrowers. For loans granted for at least ten years, the proposed provisions would cover beneficiaries, founders and related individuals. Loans initially granted for a shorter period would be caught if extensions bring the final contractual term to at least ten years. In practice, foundations would need to review repayment schedules, extensions and outstanding receivables alongside their ordinary benefit payments.
The bill would restrict the exemption for revenue obtained through tax-transparent entities to the extent that the revenue would not qualify for exemption if earned directly by the foundation. The rule would therefore depend on the nature of the underlying revenue rather than automatically taxing every receipt from every such entity. [1, proposed Article 6(8)(3) of the Corporate Income Tax Act]
Family foundations would also be brought within the controlled foreign company (CFC) and exit tax regimes. The bill provides specific deduction rules for CFC taxation and clarifies the consequences of transferring assets abroad where Poland loses specified taxing rights. Holding an interest in a foreign company would not, by itself, automatically trigger CFC taxation; the statutory conditions would need to be assessed. [1, Article 2(1)–(3)]
The bill would extend the category of a founder’s family members eligible for the personal income tax exemption to include descendants of the founder’s siblings and descendants of the founder’s stepchildren. This would be particularly relevant to foundations established by siblings: a child of one founder is also a niece or nephew of the other. The exemption would continue to refer to the statutory asset-contribution proportion, making the identity of the founders and the composition of contributed assets relevant to the assessment. [1, Article 1]
As a general rule, the corporate income tax amendments would apply from the foundation’s tax year beginning after 31 December 2026. A foundation whose tax year begins before 1 January 2027 and ends after 31 December 2026 would continue to apply the existing provisions until the end of that tax year. The personal income tax amendments would apply to income received from 1 January 2027. [1, Article 3(1)–(3)]
The bill also provides a special mechanism for returning certain real estate and property rights to the person who owned them immediately before their contribution or gratuitous transfer to the foundation before 1 January 2027. The deadline would generally be 31 December 2027 or, for the non-calendar tax year specified in the bill, twelve months after its end. The mechanism concerns residential property and property designated for overnight accommodation falling within the new rules. [1, Article 3(4)–(5)]
Qualifying returns would be excluded from Articles 24q and 24r of the Corporate Income Tax Act and benefit from the relevant personal income tax or inheritance and gift tax relief. The bill also addresses subsequent disposals of the returned property. This is a targeted transitional measure, rather than a general tax-free right to withdraw any asset from a foundation. The specified relief should not be equated with an automatic exemption from every other potential charge, such as VAT.
In its current form, the bill preserves the family foundation as a succession vehicle while changing the economics of distributions and selected investments. A practical review should map each asset against its acquisition date and method, the proposed disposal timetable, any letting arrangements and relevant relationships with beneficiaries and related entities. Foundations with property portfolios, family loans or international structures would warrant particular attention.
A central distinction is between assets contributed in the past and distributions made in the future. Excluding previously contributed property from the new disposal restriction would not preserve the 15% rate for all future benefits financed from that property. The transitional provisions treat these events separately. Decisions should therefore be checked against the legislation as ultimately enacted and promulgated, since the bill may still change during the parliamentary process.