Glossary of terms
Polish accounting has its own language. We translate it into plain English – briefly and without legal clauses.
From A to Z
The 37 most common Polish terms. Type a word or choose a letter.
A
- Amortyzacja – depreciation
- Spreading the value of a fixed asset over costs in subsequent years according to statutory rates.
- Amortyzacja jednorazowa (de minimis) – one-off depreciation
- The option to expense the value of fixed assets in one go up to a statutory limit – e.g. for small and new businesses.
B
- Biała lista podatników VAT – VAT white list
- A list of VAT payers with their bank account numbers. Paying to an account not on the list may exclude the expense from costs.
C
- CEIDG – business register
- Central Register and Information on Economic Activity – the register of sole proprietorships. Registration is free.
- CIT
- Corporate income tax, paid e.g. by limited companies (sp. z o.o.).
- CRBR – beneficial owners register
- Central Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners – companies report the people who actually control them.
E
- Estonian CIT
- Lump-sum corporate tax – tax is paid only when profit is distributed, subject to statutory conditions.
F
- Faktura ustrukturyzowana – structured invoice
- An invoice in XML format issued in KSeF and marked with a KSeF number.
I
- IP Box
- A preferential 5% rate on income from qualifying intellectual property rights, e.g. copyright in software.
J
- JPK_V7
- Standard Audit File combining VAT records with the return – sent monthly (V7M) or quarterly (V7K).
K
- KPiR ledger
- Tax revenue and expense ledger – the basic record for progressive and flat tax.
- KRS – National Court Register
- National Court Register – the register of e.g. limited companies.
- KSeF
- National e-Invoicing System – the government platform for issuing and receiving invoices. Mandatory from 2026.
- Kwota wolna od podatku – tax-free amount
- The part of income free of tax – PLN 30,000 a year on the progressive scale.
M
- Mały ZUS Plus – Small ZUS Plus
- A relief under which social contributions depend on the previous year’s income.
- Mechanizm podzielonej płatności (MPP) – split payment
- Paying an invoice in two parts: net to the main account and VAT to the VAT account. Mandatory e.g. for construction services above PLN 15,000 gross.
- Metoda kasowa – cash accounting
- Settling VAT only after receiving payment from the client – for small taxpayers.
O
- OSS
- One Stop Shop – a procedure for settling VAT on distance sales to consumers in other EU countries in a single return.
P
- Podstawa wymiaru składek ZUS – ZUS contribution base
- The amount on which social insurance contributions are calculated – as a rule employment income, with exclusions under the contributions regulation. How to lower it ↗
- PIT-11
- Annual information on an employee’s or contractor’s income, issued by the payer.
- PIT-4R
- The payer’s annual return on tax advances withheld from salaries.
- PPK
- Employee Capital Plans – a voluntary pension savings scheme with employer and employee contributions.
- Preferencyjny ZUS – preferential ZUS
- Lower social contributions for 24 months after the start-up relief ends.
- Proporcja VAT – VAT ratio
- A way of deducting VAT on purchases when a company performs both taxable and exempt activities.
R
- Lump-sum tax on recorded revenue
- Tax on revenue without deducting costs, at a rate depending on the type of business.
S
- SoCap Token
- An employee benefit: a service bought by the employee below the retail price, excluded from the ZUS contribution base under § 2(1)(26) of the regulation. What is SoCap ↗
- Health contribution
- Health insurance contribution – its amount depends on the tax form.
- Środek trwały – fixed asset
- An asset worth more than PLN 10,000 used in the business for more than a year – expensed through depreciation.
U
- Ulga na start – start-up relief
- Exemption from social contributions for the first 6 full months of business.
- Ulga na złe długi – bad debt relief
- The option to recover VAT on an invoice the client has not paid on time.
V
- VAT RR
- An invoice issued by the buyer of agricultural products from a flat-rate farmer – linked to a flat-rate tax refund.
- VAT-marża – VAT margin scheme
- A special VAT procedure in which tax is calculated on the margin, e.g. when selling used goods or tourism services.
- VAT-UE
- Recapitulative statement on intra-EU transactions, filed together with the VAT settlement.
W
- Wyłączenie z podstawy składek (§ 2(1)(26)) – exclusion from the contribution base
- A provision of the 1998 contributions regulation that exempts from contributions the benefit of buying goods or services below retail prices. Judgment III AUa 1247/24 ↗
- WDT – intra-EU supply
- Intra-community supply of goods – a sale of goods to a business in another EU country, usually at 0% VAT.
- WNT – intra-EU acquisition
- Intra-community acquisition of goods – a purchase of goods from a business in another EU country, settled by the buyer.
Z
- Zwolnienie podmiotowe z VAT – VAT exemption
- The option not to charge VAT on sales up to PLN 240,000 a year (from 2026), with exceptions for certain industries.
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