Meta will pass on DST costs to Poles. New provisions in the regulations

“Dear Customer, Meta will charge new localization fees for ads displayed in specific legal areas, covering Digital Services Tax (DST)” – this is the latest message to social media users.

There is no digital tax in Poland yet, but it will soon act as a 3% levy imposed on the world’s largest technology companies (so-called Big Tech). The goal is noble – equalizing market opportunities between global corporations and local enterprises. The problem is who will pay it – certainly not the Americans!

Digital tax rates in Europe. Will Poland join next year?

So that the customer has no doubts, in the latest announcement Meta precisely calculates the digital tax rates already in force in Europe:

• Austria – 5 percent

• France – 3 percent

• Italy – 3 percent

• Spain – 3 percent

• Türkiye – 5 percent (effective from January 1, 2026, previously it was 7.5%)

• Hungary – 7.5 percent

• Great Britain – 2 percent

It is to be paid by corporations whose global revenues exceed EUR 1 billion, and whose revenues in Poland exceed PLN 25 million. Perhaps in Poland the tax can probably be reduced by the amount of income tax paid (CIT) – the project is currently at the stage of inter-ministerial arrangements.

– Poland is a large, strong economy and a large playing field for this type of entities, so I think it is acceptable for them, although of course they will argue in their own interest that it is not – said Dr. Jarosław Kopeć from the Instrat Foundation for PAP, which prepared an expert opinion on digital tax commissioned by the Ministry of Digital Affairs in August 2025. The expert believes that these companies will not be willing to give up their operations on the Polish market, just as they did not give up after the introduction of GDPR.

The largest technology companies (mother companies) do not pay taxes directly in Poland (e.g. in connection with the provided advertising, marketplace and social media services). However, CIT is paid indirectly in Poland by daughter companies of digital giants: Google Poland Sp. z o. o., Facebook Poland Sp. z o. o., Amazon Eu Sarl Sp. z o. o. or Apple Poland Sp. z o. o

Where is the truth about digital tax? Revenues to the Polish budget from Big Tech

However, information from the Ministry of Digitization shows that the average effective tax rate to which digital enterprises are subject is currently twice lower than the rate applicable to enterprises operating in the traditional European economy, so it is necessary to adapt the regulations to such realities.

According to the assumptions of the Polish government, the Digital Tax Act is to be adopted by the Council of Ministers in the third quarter of 2026, and the entry into force of the new regulations is expected for 2027 at the earliest. The estimated profit for the budget is PLN 1.7–4 billion. However, experts from the Civic Development Forum assessed the projected revenues from the digital tax as overestimated.

– Today, competition on the digital market in Poland is unstable. Companies that pay tax on their activities in Poland are in a worse situation than those that provide digital services from abroad in our country. This reduces competitiveness for domestic entities, limits our digital sovereignty, and significantly reduces state budget revenues that could be reinvested in building the technological potential of our country. The economy is increasingly moving to the digital sphere and over time these inequalities would only deepen – explained the need to tax Big Tech in Poland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski.

Not a word about the fact that Poles will ultimately pay the digital tax.