What is the payment terminal tax relief?

The payment terminal tax relief allows for deducting the costs of purchasing a terminal and expenses related to its operation from the tax base. This applies to expenses incurred both in the year the terminal is first used and in the following year. This enables entrepreneurs to reduce their income or revenue by a specified amount, leading to a lower tax liability.

Who can benefit from the relief?

The payment terminal tax relief is not available to all entrepreneurs. The amount of tax preference depends on the type of business activity and obligations related to maintaining sales records:

• PLN 2,500 annually – for entrepreneurs who are not required to keep sales records for individuals not conducting business activity and lump-sum farmers using fiscal cash registers.
• PLN 1,000 annually – for taxpayers who are legally obliged to have a fiscal cash register.

However, not every entrepreneur can benefit from this preference. The relief is not available to taxpayers who, within the 12 months prior to resuming payment terminal service, had already accepted cashless payments.

Possibility to deduct double the expenses

In certain cases, entrepreneurs can deduct up to 200% of the expenses incurred for a payment terminal, up to a maximum of PLN 2,000. This condition applies to entrepreneurs who are entitled to a VAT refund within 15 days and meet additional requirements:

• for 7 months (for taxpayers settling VAT monthly) or 2 quarters (for taxpayers settling VAT quarterly), they achieved a specific level of sales recorded in online cash registers,
• for the subsequent 12 months before submitting the application, their sales value for each settlement period was at least PLN 50,000,
• they showed a tax difference that does not exceed twice the amount of tax due for a given period,
• they met other requirements related to VAT registration, sales records, and timely submission of declarations.

Mandatory integration of online cash registers

Since 2022, the obligation to integrate payment terminals with online fiscal cash registers, which connect to the Central Register of Cash Registers (CRK), has also been introduced. Taxpayers must ensure the cooperation of both devices and comply with applicable technical requirements.