Poland: Publication of draft digital services tax bill

The Polish Ministry of Digital Affairs on July 31, 2026, published draft legislation introducing a 3% compensatory tax on certain services (digital services tax (DST)). The draft moves the proposal from the policy-assumption stage into the formal legislative process and has entered a 60-day public consultation period. The proposed tax would apply from January 1, 2027.

Taxpayers in scope

The tax would apply to an entity or consolidated group (for financial accounting purposes) meeting both of the following thresholds in the preceding settlement period:

• Worldwide revenue exceeding €1 billion
• Polish taxable (in-scope) revenue exceeding PLN 25 million

The tax applies regardless of the taxpayer's residency or headquarters location. Group members are jointly and severally liable, although a group may designate one Poland-established entity to manage payment and filing. Taxpayers without a seat or fixed establishment in the EU must appoint a tax representative.

Excluded taxpayers include entities whose predominant activity is publishing editorial materials (i.e., media entities) prepared by or for them are excluded. Predominance is assessed by reference to headcount, working hours, revenue share, and floor space devoted to editorial publishing, with details to be set by regulation.

Transactions in scope

Three categories of digital services provided within Polish territory would be taxable:

• Targeted advertising placed on a digital interface directed at users (the entity placing the advertisement is the service provider, whether or not it owns the interface);
• Multi-sided digital interfaces enabling user interaction or facilitating underlying supplies of goods or services between users; and
• Transmission of user data (by sale, license, or other consideration) generated from user activity on digital interfaces.

Excluded services include interfaces used mainly to supply the provider's own digital content or to provide communication or payment services; direct online sales via a supplier's own website (when not acting as intermediary); regulated financial services by supervised entities; and services provided by trading venues, systematic internalisers, and regulated crowdfunding providers.

Sourcing

Revenue is attributable to Poland when the user connected to the service is located in Poland during the settlement period:

• Advertising — the advertisement appears on the user's device while it is being used in Poland to access the interface;
• Interfaces — the user concludes a transaction via a device in Poland, or holds an account opened via a device in Poland; and
• Data — the transmitted data derive from browsing by a user located in Poland

User location is determined using the device IP address, MAC address, telecommunications-network data, or other methods reflecting the taxpayer's business, using whichever available method is most accurate. Collected data must be limited to location and must not identify the user.

Tax base

The tax base is the taxpayer's due or paid revenue from in-scope services provided in Poland, computed by service:

• Advertising — total advertising revenue apportioned by the share of ad displays to Polish users;
• Interfaces — account/subscription fees from users who opened accounts in Poland; 100% of commissions when both transacting users are in Poland, or 50% when only one is; and
• Data — revenue from data of Poland-located users, apportioned by the percentage of Polish users in mixed data sets.

Tax computation and reductions

The tax rate is 3%, applied to the tax base. The calculated tax is then reduced by the amount of:

• Corporate income tax (CIT) due under the Polish CIT Act;
• Research and development costs (within the scope of Art. 18d(2) of the CIT Act); and
• Capital expenditure incurred in Poland (acquisition or production of fixed assets, improvement of existing fixed assets, or initial equipping of construction facilities).

When the reductions exceed the calculated tax, the liability is set at PLN 0. The draft does not provide for a refund or carryforward of excess reductions.

Compliance

• Settlement period: Calendar year.
• Notification: Within 30 days of the end of the first settlement period for which tax is due; the tax office assigns an individual identification number within 30 business days.
• Return: Filed electronically within 90 business days of period-end, showing revenues by service, tax due, and total worldwide revenue, in PLN.
• Payment: Due within 30 days of the filing deadline, in PLN.
• Penalties: An additional liability of up to 200% of unpaid tax (subject to good-faith/due-diligence mitigation), and an administrative fine of up to PLN 500,000 for failure to notify.
• Advance rulings: The Tax Ordinance is amended to permit confirmation of the tax-base calculation method and place-of-supply determination.

KPMG observation

The compensatory tax retains the broad structure of prior EU DST-type measures but pairs it with a distinctive credit for Polish CIT, R&D, and local capital expenditure, which could materially reduce—or eliminate—the effective tax for in-scope groups with a significant Polish footprint. Affected businesses should model the interaction of these reductions and consider engaging during the 60-day consultation period before the rules are finalized.

For more information, contact a KPMG tax professional:

Lukasz Daniek | ldaniek@kpmg.pl

Philippe Stephanny | philippestephanny@kpmg.com