The housing relief (ulga mieszkaniowa) 2026 – how not to pay tax on a sale
Author: Tacjana MasiukiewiczCosts and taxes~13 min read
The housing relief (ulga mieszkaniowa) lets you avoid the 19% tax on selling a flat before 5 years have passed if you spend the proceeds on your own housing purposes – e.g. buying a new flat from a developer – within 3 years of the end of the year of sale. The exemption is proportional: the larger the part of the proceeds you put into housing, the lower the tax. Below we explain the conditions, the formula and the deadlines, and on the example of flats from our offer we calculate how much tax is left with full and partial reinvestment.
Key facts
- The tax on selling a flat before 5 years have passed (counted from the end of the year of purchase) is 19% of the income, not of the price.
- To spend the money on your own housing purposes you have 3 years from the end of the year in which you sold the flat – for a sale in 2026 until 31 December 2029.
- Exempt income = income × expenses on housing purposes ÷ proceeds; expenses count at most up to the amount of the proceeds.
- You report the sale in the PIT-39 return by 30 April of the year following the sale – even when the whole income is to be exempt.
- If you do not spend the money in time, you file a corrected PIT-39 and pay the tax with late-payment interest.
When do you need the housing relief?
The sale of a flat is a source of income only if it takes place before five years have passed, counted from the end of the calendar year in which you acquired or built the flat (art. 10 sec. 1 pt 8 of the PIT Act). If you bought the flat in 2021, five years passed on 31 December 2026 and a sale from 2027 is already outside the tax – then the relief is not needed. How to count this deadline and the tax in detail we describe in the article Tax on selling a flat within 5 years, and the rules for flats received by inheritance or gift in the text Selling a flat from an inheritance or gift (in Polish).
The tax is 19% of the income (art. 30e). The income is the proceeds, that is the price under the contract reduced by the costs of sale (e.g. an agent's commission, the notarial fee paid by the seller), minus documented acquisition costs and outlays that increased the flat's value while you owned it (art. 19 sec. 1 and art. 22 sec. 6c). The relief (art. 21 sec. 1 pt 131) exempts this income in the part corresponding to the reinvested money.
The housing relief – the formula for exempt income
The Act does not tell you to spend the "income", but the proceeds. So the exemption is calculated by a proportion:
exempt income = income × (expenses on your own housing purposes ÷ proceeds from the sale)
Expenses are counted at most up to the amount of the proceeds, so the proportion will not exceed 100%. If you sold a flat for 700 thousand zł and the new one costs 750 thousand zł, the exemption will be 100%, but the excess of 50 thousand zł will bring no additional benefit.
The housing relief, 3 years – from when to count the deadline?
The money must be spent starting from the day of sale, at the latest within three years of the end of the tax year in which the sale took place. Two things follow. First, expenses incurred before the day of sale as a rule do not count (the exception is repaying a loan taken earlier – more on that below). Second, the deadline is counted from 31 December, so a sale in January gives almost four years.
| Year of sale | PIT-39 and payment of any tax | Deadline for housing expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | by 30 April 2026 | by 31 December 2028 |
| 2026 | by 30 April 2027 | by 31 December 2029 |
| 2027 | by the deadline for the 2027 return (from 15 February to 30 April 2028) | by 31 December 2030 |
Your own housing purposes – what counts?
The list of expenses is closed and follows from art. 21 sec. 25 of the PIT Act. The property must be located in Poland, another EU or EEA state or in Switzerland.
| Expense | Does it count? | What to watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Buying a flat or house (also a share), with the land | Yes | An expense after the day the old flat is sold |
| Payments for a flat from a developer under a developer agreement | Yes | The deed transferring ownership must be signed before the 3-year deadline expires (art. 21 sec. 25a) |
| A cooperative ownership right to a unit | Yes | – |
| Land for building a house, building a house | Yes | The land must be designated for a residential building |
| Renovation, alteration and finishing of your own flat | Yes | The unit must be yours or become yours within the relief deadline |
| Repaying a home loan and interest | Yes | A loan taken before the day of sale, at a bank or SKOK from the EU/EEA/Switzerland |
| A holiday house, a recreational plot | No | Recreational purposes are excluded (art. 21 sec. 28) |
| Free-standing furniture, portable appliances | Doubtful | The interpretation lists elements permanently attached to the unit |
A flat from a developer and the developer agreement
The provision of art. 21 sec. 25a treats acquisition expenses as housing expenses on condition that before the 3-year deadline expires you acquire ownership of the unit. With a flat under construction, therefore, check the deadline for the transfer of ownership in the developer agreement and leave yourself a margin for a possible construction delay. Also remember the order: payments made before the old flat is sold will not enter the relief. How to coordinate the two transactions we write in the guide How to buy a new flat while selling the old one (in Polish).
Renovation and finishing
Renovating your own unit falls within the statutory list. In the general interpretation of 13 October 2021 the Minister of Finance indicated that finishing elements may also be a housing expense, among others a cooker, an induction hob, an oven, an extractor hood, a cabinet carrying a washbasin, lighting and furniture permanently attached structurally to building elements. Collect invoices issued in your name.
Only one flat? Letting?
The current rules do not limit the relief to one unit nor require that the taxpayer have no other flat. The Act, however, speaks of own housing purposes, and in individual interpretations the tax authorities examine whether the purchase serves to meet your housing needs or solely an investment to let or resell. In draft amendments of 2025–2026 the Ministry of Finance proposed narrowing the relief (among others to taxpayers with no other property), but by the end of September 2026 the provisions of art. 21 sec. 1 pt 131 and sec. 25 had not been changed, and the draft adopted by the government on 22 September 2026 and sent to the Sejm contains no changes to the housing relief.
The housing relief and repaying a loan
You may also direct the proceeds of the sale to your own housing purposes by repaying a loan (a credit) and interest – provided you took the loan before the day of sale for a housing purpose from the list (art. 21 sec. 25 pt 2). Repayment of a loan refinancing such a loan also counts. In practice this gives two options:
- Repaying the loan on the flat being sold – the Act directly allows repayment of a loan taken in connection with the property being disposed of to be counted (art. 21 sec. 30a). If on the sale the bank receives part of the price to repay the mortgage, that amount may increase the exemption. The course of such a transaction we describe in the article Selling a flat with a mortgage (in Polish).
- First a new flat on a loan, then selling the old one – if the loan for the new flat was taken before the sale, overpaying it with the proceeds of the sale counts towards the relief.
You cannot, however, count the part of repayments that you have already settled in another tax relief (art. 21 sec. 30). If the new flat is to be partly financed with a loan taken only after the sale, decide in advance how you will account for the expenses – in such arrangements it is worth asking for the authority's position in an individual interpretation.
Selling a flat and want to buy a new one straight away? We will help you value and sell your flat, and choose the new one from developers' offers so that the payment and handover dates fit the relief.
An example: you sell for 700 thousand zł and buy 3 rooms from a developer
Assumptions: a flat bought in 2023, acquisition costs (price, PCC, notary) 500,000 zł, sold in October 2026 for 700,000 zł. Five years pass only on 31 December 2028, so the sale is taxed. For clarity we leave out the costs of sale. Income = 700,000 − 500,000 = 200,000 zł; without the relief the tax would be 19% × 200,000 = 38,000 zł.
We take the new flats from our offer in Warsaw's Białołęka (according to data from the TM Invest offer, as of 27 September 2026): a 3-room flat no. 63 of 58.19 m² in the development Miasteczko Nova Sfera 5 for 748,800 zł (completion Q4 2026) and a 3-room flat A.07 of 54.14 m² in Osiedle Salvia for 567,820 zł (completion Q3 2027). The median price of 3-room flats in Białołęka in our offer is 751,127 zł.
| Variant | Housing expenses (up to the proceeds limit) | Share of the proceeds | Exempt income | Taxable income | Tax at 19% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Without the relief | none | 0% | none | 200,000 | 38,000 |
| A: Nova Sfera 5, 748,800 | 700,000 | 100% | 200,000 | none | no tax |
| B: Osiedle Salvia, 567,820 | 567,820 | 81.1% | 162,234 | 37,766 | 7,176 |
| C: Salvia + finishing of 80,000 | 647,820 | 92.5% | 185,091 | 14,909 | 2,833 |
In variant A the price of the new flat exceeds the proceeds, so the whole 200 thousand zł of income is exempt. The missing 48,800 zł you add from savings. In variant B 132,180 zł of proceeds remains unspent, and on the proportional part of the income for it you pay about 7.2 thousand zł of tax. Variant C shows that until the end of 2029 you can still "top up" the relief with expenses on finishing the new flat – every 10 thousand zł of documented expenses lowers the tax here by about 543 zł. More flats in this district: new flats in Białołęka.
PIT-39 and what if you do not spend the money in time
After the year in which you sold the flat ends you file the PIT-39 in the period from 15 February to 30 April. In the return you state the income and – if you intend to use the relief – the exempt income (art. 30e sec. 4). The deadline for expenses is longer than the deadline for the return, so you often file the PIT-39 before you buy the new flat. You then state exempt income according to what you intend to spend within the relief deadline, and by 30 April you pay tax on the part that will not be exempt – the Act provides for a correction in case the plan does not succeed.
When the conditions of the relief are not met – you do not spend the money within 3 years, you spend less than you assumed, or you do not acquire ownership of the flat from the developer in time – you must file a corrected PIT-39 and pay the tax with late-payment interest. Interest is calculated from the day after the payment deadline, that is from 1 May of the year following the sale, until the day of payment (art. 30e sec. 7).
Read also:
Frequently asked questions
Is the housing relief in force in 2026?
Yes. The exemption in art. 21 sec. 1 pt 131 of the PIT Act applies in the wording of the consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 592. As of September 2026 the planned narrowings of the relief have not come into force.
Do I have to spend the whole amount from the sale, or only the profit?
For the income to be fully exempt, you must spend on your own housing purposes an amount equal to the proceeds, not only the profit. By spending less you will get an exemption proportional to the share of expenses in the proceeds.
Do payments under a developer agreement count towards the housing relief?
Yes, if they were incurred after the day of sale and the deed transferring ownership of the unit is signed before the 3-year deadline expires.
Do I have to file a PIT-39 if the whole income is exempt?
Yes. You report a sale before 5 years have passed in the PIT-39 by 30 April of the year following the sale, stating the exempt income in it.
Can I buy a new flat before selling the old one and use the relief?
Expenses incurred before the day of sale as a rule do not count. The exception is a loan taken before the sale for a housing purpose – repaying it with the proceeds of the sale enters the relief.
Does renovation count towards the housing relief?
Yes, if it concerns a flat that you own or will own within the relief deadline. Documented expenses count, including, according to the Ministry of Finance's general interpretation of 2021, among others a hob, an oven, lighting and furniture permanently attached to the building.
Summary
The housing relief in 2026 works on the existing rules: you sell a flat before 5 years have passed, and within 3 years of the end of the year of sale you spend the proceeds on buying, building, renovating or repaying a home loan. In our example buying a 3-room flat from a developer at a price at least equal to the proceeds lowers the tax from 38,000 zł to zero, and partial reinvestment – proportionally. We write more about costs on the buyer's side in the guide The costs of buying a flat from a developer.
Want to put the proceeds of a sale into a new flat? We will help you choose a flat from a developer – for the buyer most often without a commission, as the fee is usually paid by the developer. If you first have to sell your current flat, see the page on selling and valuing a flat.
Legal status as of September 2026. The calculations are indicative and are not tax advice. In an atypical situation (a loan taken after the sale, a purchase to let, co-ownership) consider applying for an individual interpretation.
Sources
- Personal Income Tax Act – consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 592 (art. 10 sec. 1 pt 8, art. 19, art. 21 sec. 1 pt 131 and sec. 25–30a, art. 22 sec. 6c, art. 30e, art. 45).
- The Minister of Finance's general interpretation of 13 October 2021 (DD2.8202.4.2020) – the catalogue of expenses on housing purposes.
- The podatki.gov.pl service – Disposal of real estate – PIT-39, deadlines, the housing relief.
- Draft act amending the PIT, CIT and lump-sum tax acts (UD116) – the version adopted by the Council of Ministers and sent to the Sejm in September 2026.
- Information brochure for the PIT-39 for 2025 – Ministry of Finance, podatki.gov.pl (the exemption formula, rounding, interest).
- Flat prices: the TM Invest catalogue of developments, as of 27 September 2026.
