Assigning a developer agreement in Poland – tax, PCC, mortgage and the developer's consent

Assigning a developer agreement (cesja umowy deweloperskiej) is a way to "sell" a flat before the developer transfers its ownership to you: you pass your rights under the agreement to a new buyer, who refunds the instalments you paid (usually with a margin) and keeps paying the developer. It requires a notarial deed, in practice the developer's consent and – if you bought with a mortgage – the bank's. The buyer usually pays 1% PCC, and you tax your profit on the tax scale. Below we calculate an example for a flat at 700 thousand zł to be completed in 2027.

Key facts

• An agreement assigning claims under a developer agreement is made in the form of a notarial deed (art. 40 sec. 1 of the Developer Act).
• Since July 2023 an assignment has been allowed if the agreement concerns one unit and you have not, within 3 years, transferred rights under another developer agreement – the restriction does not apply to an assignment to close family (the first and second tax groups).
• A paid assignment is a sale of "another property right": PCC is 1%, paid by the buyer and collected by the notary.
• The seller's profit is income from property rights taxed on the scale: 12% up to 120,000 zł of income a year and 32% on the excess; the 5-year rule and the housing relief (ulga mieszkaniowa) do not work here.
• The Act does not regulate the developer's fee for consenting to an assignment – its amount follows solely from your agreement.

What assigning a developer agreement is – a transfer of a claim and an assumption of debt

In everyday speech people talk about "assigning the agreement", but civil law distinguishes two acts. The first is a transfer of a claim (art. 509 of the Civil Code): you pass to the acquirer your rights, above all the claim to have the building built, the unit separated and its ownership transferred. Together with the claim the rights attached to it pass as well (art. 509 § 2 of the Civil Code). As a rule a transfer does not need the debtor's consent, unless a statute, the contract or the nature of the obligation prevents it.

The second act is an assumption of debt (art. 519 of the Civil Code) – the acquirer steps into your place as the person who has to pay the developer the rest of the price. Here the creditor's consent, that is the developer's, is necessary, and the agreement and consent must be at least in writing on pain of nullity (art. 522 of the Civil Code). That is why an assignment of "rights and obligations" always takes place with the developer's involvement – without its consent you are still liable for the next instalments. You can read more about the agreement itself and its mandatory elements in the guide The developer agreement (umowa deweloperska) – what it must contain and what to watch out for.

This article is about assigning an already concluded developer agreement; you can read about other agreements in the article The developer agreement versus the preliminary agreement.

When an assignment is allowed – the limit in the Developer Act

The Act on the Protection of the Rights of a Purchaser (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 880) restricts so-called trading in assignments in art. 37a. The provision was added by the Act on State Aid for Saving for Housing Purposes (Journal of Laws 2023 item 1114) and has applied since July 2023. A purchaser may transfer claims under a developer agreement to a third party if at the same time:

• the agreement concerns no more than one residential unit or one single-family house,
• within 3 years before the assignment they have not transferred claims under another developer agreement.

The conditions do not apply when you transfer the rights to a person from the first or second tax group under the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act – for example a child, a parent, a spouse or in-laws. In the notarial deed you declare that you meet the 3-year condition, on pain of criminal liability for a false declaration, and the notary must warn you of this (art. 37a sec. 4 and art. 40 sec. 1a). A breach of the conditions does not invalidate the assignment (art. 37a sec. 3) – the criminal risk is borne by the transferor.

The developer's consent and the assignment fee

The Developer Act contains no provision on a fee for consenting to an assignment – it neither provides for it nor limits it. Whether the developer will agree to a change of purchaser at all and how much it will charge is decided by the provisions of your agreement. So ask about assignment before you sign the developer agreement. Check three clauses: whether an assignment needs consent and within what time the developer must reply, whether there is a fee (an amount or a percentage of the price), and whether there is a ban on assignment until a certain stage of construction. Such clauses can be negotiated, especially at an early stage of sales.

Already have a draft agreement from the developer? We will check the draft agreement and the developer's documents, point out the clauses on assignment, penalties and deadlines to negotiate before you go to the notary.

The notarial deed and the entry in the land and mortgage register

An agreement assigning claims under a developer agreement is made in the form of a notarial deed (art. 40 sec. 1 of the Developer Act). The developer agreement is the basis for entering the purchaser's claim in the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) of the plot on which the development is being built (art. 38). After the assignment the new purchaser should appear in section III, so the notary files an application for the entry. The court fee for an application to enter a claim is 150 zł (art. 43 pt 3 of the Act on Court Costs in Civil Cases). You will find more on preparing for the visit to the notary in the article The notarial deed when buying a flat.

The regulation on the notarial fee schedule provides no reduced rate for an assignment (half the rate applies, among others, to a developer agreement and one transferring ownership), so the maximum fee is calculated under § 3 on the value of the act, plus 23% VAT and copies. How to split the costs of the assignment is for you to agree – the "half each with the developer" rule from art. 40 sec. 2 concerns the conclusion of the developer agreement, not an assignment.

PCC on assigning a developer agreement – 1%, not 2%

A paid assignment in which the acquirer pays you for the rights under the agreement is a contract of sale of property rights (art. 1 sec. 1 pt 1 lit. a of the PCC Act). A claim under a developer agreement is neither real estate nor a cooperative right to a unit, so the rate for "other property rights" applies – 1% (art. 7 sec. 1 pt 1 lit. b). The taxpayer is the buyer (art. 4 pt 1), and for a notarial deed the notary collects the tax as the tax remitter (art. 10 sec. 2).

The tax base is the market value of the property right on the day of the act (art. 6 sec. 1 pt 1 and sec. 2). In practice the parties usually state the amount the buyer pays the transferor – a refund of the instalments paid plus the margin. The tax authority may, however, challenge an understated value (art. 6 sec. 3–4). The assignment agreement itself is not named in the list of acts in art. 1 of the PCC Act – it is taxable only when it takes the form of a sale or exchange. That is why, for example, in a case on transferring rights and obligations between two co-purchasers that was not a sale, the Director of the National Tax Information (KIS) found there was no PCC (an interpretation of 7 April 2021, ref. 0111-KDIB2-2.4014.282.2020.2.MM).

An important difference from the secondary market: the PCC exemption for buying a first flat (art. 9 pt 17) applies to the sale of ownership of a unit, a cooperative ownership right to a unit or a house – not to claims under a developer agreement. We describe the details of the exemption in the article PCC tax when buying property. The later agreement transferring ownership with the developer is already subject to VAT, so the purchaser pays no PCC on it.

Income tax on assigning a developer agreement

When you sell rights under a developer agreement, you are not disposing of real estate but of a property right other than those listed in art. 10 sec. 1 pt 8 lit. a–c of the PIT Act. The revenue falls into the source "capital and property rights" (art. 10 sec. 1 pt 7). The Director of KIS in an interpretation of 26 May 2025 (ref. 0114-KDWP.4011.32.2025.1.ASZ) confirmed that income from a paid assignment of rights under a developer agreement is taxed on the tax scale of art. 27 sec. 1 together with other income, in a PIT-36 return filed by 30 April of the following year – not at the 19% rate of art. 30b.

Deductible costs are above all the amounts paid to the developer and documented expenses connected with the agreement (e.g. your share of the notarial costs). What is taxed is the income, that is the margin, not the whole amount received from the buyer. The 5-year rule and the housing relief concern the sale of real estate, so you cannot use them on an assignment – you will find a comparison in the article Tax on selling a flat within 5 years.

An example: assigning a flat at 700 thousand zł to be completed in 2027

Assumptions: you bought a 2-room flat in Warsaw to be completed in Q4 2027 for 700,000 zł (a price close to the cheapest "two-room" flats in such developments in our catalogue). You paid 30% of the price, that is 210,000 zł, and your half of the costs of the developer agreement – 1,172.78 zł (half the maximum notarial fee with VAT and half the fee for entering the claim). You find a buyer who refunds your payments and adds 40,000 zł of margin, and who will pay the developer the rest of the price – 490,000 zł. The developer charges no fee for consent, and the buyer bears the costs of the assignment.

Stage	Cost	Who pays
Payment to the transferor (refund of 30% of payments + margin)	250,000 zł	the buyer
PCC 1% of 250,000 zł	2,500 zł	the buyer (collected by the notary)
Maximum notarial fee for the deed of assignment under § 3 (1,010 zł + 0.4% of the excess over 60,000 zł)	1,770 zł net + 407.10 zł VAT = 2,177.10 zł	as agreed by the parties, most often the buyer
Entering the purchaser's claim in the land and mortgage register	150 zł	as agreed by the parties
The developer's fee for consenting to the assignment	per the developer agreement (none in the example)	usually the transferor or buyer – per the agreement
The remaining price of the flat	490,000 zł	the buyer, then to the escrow account
PIT on income of 38,827.22 zł (250,000 − 210,000 − 1,172.78)	4,659 zł at 12% or 12,425 zł at 32%	the transferor, in PIT-36

So you are left with from about 26.4 thousand zł (at 32%) to about 34.2 thousand zł (at 12%) of the 40 thousand zł margin, provided the buyer covers the costs of the assignment. The buyer spends about 4.8 thousand zł on "entering" the agreement over and above the amount for the transferor. If you sold after the deed (within 5 years), you would pay 19% on the income, and the buyer 2% PCC on the whole price, unless they are buying a first flat. We write about how profitable such scenarios are in the article A flat as an investment.

Assigning a developer agreement with a mortgage

If a bank financed part of the price, an assignment needs an extra stage. A bank that granted a loan to buy from the developer usually secures itself on your rights under the developer agreement until a land and mortgage register for the unit with the mortgage appears. In practice, before the assignment you have to agree with the bank on repaying the loan (most often with the buyer's money) and releasing the security – without that the notary and the developer will not carry out the transaction. It is similar when selling a flat with a mortgage – see the guide Selling a flat with a mortgage (in Polish).

The buyer needs their own loan – they do not "take over" yours. Not every bank finances a purchase by assignment, so check this before signing the preliminary agreement for the assignment – book a consultation with a mortgage expert, and we will compare offers from several banks for such a transaction.

The escrow account and the DFG after an assignment

The original purchaser's payments stay in the residential escrow account – the agreement continues, so the refund of payments to the transferor comes from the buyer, not from the developer. The new purchaser pays the following instalments into the same account – we describe the rules of protection in the article The escrow account and the DFG. After the assignment ask the developer for written confirmation of the change of purchaser and of the account number for payments.

Assignment in our offer – how many flats are to be completed in 2027

According to data from the TM Invest offer, as of 27 September 2026, this is the supply of flats to be completed in 2027 – that is units for which a year or more remains until handover.

City	Developments under construction with completion in 2027	Available flats	Median of the lowest price of a 2-room flat
Warsaw	17	865	660,920 zł
Wrocław	9	495	557,600 zł

Examples of such developments are Apartamenty Literacka etap II in Bielany (Q4 2027) and Apartamenty Krakowska 6 in Krzyki (Q1 2027). You will find the full offer on the pages new flats in Warsaw and new flats in Wrocław. If you are buying with a possible resale before handover in mind, we will help you choose a development and check the assignment clauses – most often without a commission for the buyer, because the fee is usually paid by the developer.

Frequently asked questions

Summary

Assigning a developer agreement lets you leave the investment before handover, but it takes more effort than an ordinary sale: you need a notarial deed, the developer's consent and, with a mortgage, the bank's too. The buyer pays 1% PCC on the value of the rights, and you tax the margin on the tax scale, without the preferences of the 5-year rule. Before you sign a developer agreement, check whether it allows assignment and whether it provides for a high fee.

Do you have an agreement or a draft of one? Order a review of your developer agreement from us – we will analyse the clauses on assignment, fees and deadlines and point out what to negotiate.

Legal status as of September 2026. The calculations are indicative and based on the assumptions described in the example. The article is not tax or legal advice – before an assignment it is worth consulting a specialist on the tax consequences or applying for an individual interpretation from the Director of KIS.

Sources

• Act on the Protection of the Rights of a Purchaser of a Residential Unit or Single-Family House and on the Developer Guarantee Fund – consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 880 (art. 5, 37a, 38, 40).
• Act on State Aid for Saving for Housing Purposes – Journal of Laws 2023 item 1114 (art. 28 – adding art. 37a to the Developer Act).
• Civil Code – consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 795 (art. 509–522).
• Act on Tax on Civil-Law Transactions – consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 191 (art. 1, 4, 6, 7, 9 pt 17, 10).
• Personal Income Tax Act – consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 592 (art. 10 sec. 1 pt 7, art. 22 sec. 1, art. 27).
• Act on Court Costs in Civil Cases – consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2025 item 1228 (art. 43 pt 3).
• Regulation on the maximum rates of the notarial fee schedule – consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2024 item 1566 (§ 3, § 6).
• Individual interpretations of the Director of KIS: of 26 May 2025, ref. 0114-KDWP.4011.32.2025.1.ASZ (PIT) and of 7 April 2021, ref. 0111-KDIB2-2.4014.282.2020.2.MM (PCC) – the search engine Eureka (Ministry of Finance).
• Flat prices: the TM Invest catalogue of developments, as of 27 September 2026.