JDG form of taxation in Poland for 2026: skala, liniowy, ryczałt and switching

The form of taxation decides what a JDG (a sole trader’s business, jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza) pays income tax on and at what rate, and indirectly also how much its health contribution (składka zdrowotna) is. There are three to choose from: the skala podatkowa (the progressive tax scale, also called zasady ogólne, the general rules), the podatek liniowy (the 19% flat tax) and the ryczałt (ryczałt od przychodów ewidencjonowanych, a lump-sum tax on recorded revenue). In this article you’ll find how they differ, how to match the form to your own revenue and costs, by when and how to change your form of taxation, and what can’t be changed during the year.

The rules and amounts are those in force in 2026, checked on 30 September 2026 on biznes.gov.pl and in the text of the Acts.

The three forms of taxation for a JDG at a glance

There’s also the tax card (karta podatkowa), but since 2022 it’s used only by those who had it before; a new business can’t choose it.

If you choose nothing, your business is on the skala podatkowa: it’s the default form. For the other two, you have to file a statement.

Skala podatkowa: the 12% and 32% brackets

On the skala (the general rules), under the PIT Act, you calculate tax on income after deducting social contributions, in two brackets:

The tax-reducing amount of PLN 3,600 is 12% of the tax-free allowance (kwota wolna od podatku) of PLN 30,000: up to that amount of income there’s no tax at all. You take the tax-reducing amount into account in the first bracket, including in your advances during the year; in the second bracket you no longer deduct it.

An example: with income of PLN 150,000, the tax is PLN 10,800 + 32% × PLN 30,000 = PLN 20,400. With income of PLN 60,000, it’s 12% × PLN 60,000 − PLN 3,600 = PLN 3,600.

The skala gives the most reliefs: joint filing with a spouse, the child relief, the internet relief, the rehabilitation relief. The downsides: 32% once you pass into the second bracket, and a health contribution of 9% of income that you can’t deduct either from tax or from income. If you also have a job or other income taxed on the skala, your business income is added to it and together they pass through the PLN 120,000 bracket.

Podatek liniowy: 19% whatever your income

On the podatek liniowy you pay 19% of income, with no brackets and no tax-free allowance. Business income isn’t combined with other income: you settle your job separately on the skala (PIT-37, an employee’s return), and the business in PIT-36L (the annual return on the liniowy).

The health contribution is 4.9% of income, and you can deduct the health contributions paid from income or count them as costs, in 2026 up to PLN 14,100. In return, you lose most reliefs: you can’t file with a spouse, and you can’t deduct the child relief or the internet relief. What remains includes the research and development relief, the thermal-modernisation relief and the IP Box (5% on qualifying income from intellectual property rights), as well as the deduction of social contributions and payments into an IKZE (an individual pension savings account, deductible from income).

Ryczałt: a rate on revenue, no costs

On the ryczałt, under the Act on the lump-sum income tax, you pay a percentage of revenue, and costs don’t matter. The rate depends on the activity: for example 12% for software development, 14% for healthcare services, 8.5% for most other services, 3% for trade. From revenue you deduct social contributions and 50% of the health contribution paid. The ryczałt has a limit: in 2026 it can be used by businesses whose revenue in 2025 didn’t exceed €2,000,000. Who can choose it, the full table of rates and the monthly settlement with an example are described in the article on the ryczałt.

How to choose the form for your own revenue and costs

There’s no form that’s best for everyone. Answer five questions for yourself:

1. How much do you spend on the business? The higher your costs relative to revenue, the less the ryczałt pays off, since it doesn’t take them into account.
2. What’s your ryczałt rate? At 8.5% the ryczałt wins far more often than at 15% or 17%.
3. Will your income exceed PLN 120,000? Below that bracket, the skala with its tax-free allowance usually comes out better than 19%. Well above it, 32% starts to weigh.
4. Do you use family reliefs? Joint filing with a spouse and the child relief work only on the skala.
5. Are you planning a loss? Large investments at the start produce a tax loss, which you can deduct in later years only on the skala or the liniowy.

On top of that comes the health contribution, which changes the result by thousands of złoty a year. How to calculate it for each form is described in the article on the health contribution.

Two examples in a simplified calculation

Below are two businesses with revenue of PLN 280,000 a year. The calculation is deliberately simplified: it leaves out ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) social contributions, the deductions of the health contribution and all reliefs, and calculates the health contribution on the whole income. It’s meant to show the direction, not to make the decision.

Business A has low costs and high income: the ryczałt clearly wins, and the liniowy beats the skala. Business B has the same revenue but high costs: the skala comes out best and the ryczałt worst, because it calculates tax on the whole PLN 280,000. The health contribution on the ryczałt in both businesses is the fixed annual amount for the threshold from PLN 60,000 to PLN 300,000 of revenue in 2026.

Work out your own case on the figures from the last 12 months: revenue, costs and planned purchases. You choose the form for the whole year, so it’s worth doing before January.

When and how to change your form of taxation

You report a change of form of taxation with a statement to the head of the tax office (urząd skarbowy), by a single deadline, whichever form you’re moving from and to:

• by the 20th of the month following the month in which you earn your first revenue in the year; if your first revenue falls in January, that’s 20 February;
• by the end of the year, if your first revenue that year falls in December.

The deadline counts from your first revenue, not from the start of the year. A seasonal business that issues its first invoice in April has until 20 May. The new form applies from the start of the year, so if you change in February, you already calculate January’s advance under the new form.

You can file the statement in two ways:

• through CEIDG (the Central Register and Information on Business, Poland’s register of sole traders): on Biznes.gov.pl you file an application to change your business details, in the wizard you indicate the new form (general rules, podatek liniowy or ryczałt), and then you sign the application and send it, because those are two separate steps; you’ll find the confirmation (the UPO, the official confirmation of receipt) in your Konto Przedsiębiorcy (Business Owner’s Account), and CEIDG will pass the change on to the tax office;
• at the tax office, in writing.

The choice also applies in the following years: if you change nothing, you file nothing. If you want to move from the liniowy or the ryczałt back to the skala, you also have to file a statement by the same deadline.

A statement filed after the deadline has no effect: you stay on your current form until the end of the year, and wait until the next one to change.

A new business

When you set up your business, you already indicate the form of taxation in form CEIDG-1 (the application to register, change, suspend or close a JDG). If you don’t, you have until the 20th of the month after the month of your first revenue. How to get through registration is described in the article on setting up a JDG.

Changing for 2027

For 2027 you report the change under the same rules, usually by 20 February 2027 at the latest. The government has adopted a draft of changes to income taxes for 2027, which touches the skala and the ryczałt limit; for now it’s a draft, not law, and this article describes the rules in force today.

Can you change your form during the year

No: the form chosen for a given year applies for the whole of that year, and a voluntary change takes effect only from the next one. During the year, only the law changes your form for you, when you lose the right to the liniowy or the ryczałt:

• on the ryczałt you lose the right when you earn even part of your revenue from an excluded activity (for example a pharmacy, a currency exchange office, trade in vehicle parts) or from services for a former or current employer; from that day until the end of the year you settle under the general rules and keep a KPiR (the tax revenue and expense ledger), and you don’t correct the earlier months;
• on the liniowy you lose the right through services for a former or current employer; you then move to the skala for the whole year, from January, and pay the difference in advances calculated on the skala, together with late-payment interest (odsetki za zwłokę).

Exceeding the €2,000,000 limit on the ryczałt during the year doesn’t change your form that year: the ryczałt stays until the end of the year, and from the next one you need a different form.

Working for a former employer

The former-employer rule concerns those who move from a job to a B2B contract with the same company. It covers services for a former or current employer that correspond to the activities performed for them under an employment contract:

An example: an employment contract ends in January 2026, and from February the same person does the same thing for the same company through their own business. In 2026 they can’t apply either the liniowy or the ryczałt to this revenue. In 2027 the liniowy is already possible, but the ryczałt only in 2028, because for the ryczałt the previous year counts too. The skala always works.

When you pay tax in each form

In all three forms you pay your tax advances (on the ryczałt, the ryczałt itself) every month by the 20th of the following month into your tax micro-account (mikrorachunek podatkowy). Businesses starting out can pay quarterly, and among the others, on the skala and the liniowy small taxpayers (sales including VAT up to €2,000,000 in the previous year), and on the ryczałt businesses with revenue up to €200,000 in the previous year. On the skala and the liniowy you don’t pay an advance as long as the tax due since the start of the year, less the advances paid, doesn’t exceed PLN 1,000. You file the annual return (PIT-36 on the skala, PIT-36L or PIT-28, the annual return on the ryczałt) from 15 February to 30 April of the following year; how to fill it in is covered in the article on PIT-28 and PIT-36.

You choose your form of taxation once a year, and you pay by it for twelve months: it’s worth giving it one evening with your own figures before 20 February.
💜💙 Your BravoLisa Team

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. Every situation is different — consult a qualified professional (tax adviser, accountant, or lawyer) for advice specific to your circumstances. BravoLisa does not accept liability for decisions made based on this information.

Last updated: September 2026. Rates and thresholds can change: always check them on biznes.gov.pl, podatki.gov.pl, zus.pl or with the relevant office.

Sources (8)

Verified on 30 September 2026

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2. Biznes.gov.pl — Najważniejsze zasady opodatkowania według skali podatkowej
3. Biznes.gov.pl — Podatek liniowy
4. Biznes.gov.pl — Ryczałt od przychodów ewidencjonowanych
5. Biznes.gov.pl — Jak sprawdzić w CEIDG informacje wysłane do urzędu skarbowego
6. Biznes.gov.pl — Ile wynosi składka zdrowotna
7. ISAP — Ustawa o podatku dochodowym od osób fizycznych (tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2026 poz. 592)
8. ISAP — Ustawa o zryczałtowanym podatku dochodowym od niektórych przychodów osiąganych przez osoby fizyczne (tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2025 poz. 843)