The government is preparing another approach to an important reform. This is how much the budget loses
The ministries led by Andrzej Domański plan to change the current model of taxation of family foundations. Lost revenues for last year amount to PLN 3 billion.
According to “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”, the Ministry of Development has published a draft review of the first three years of the Act on Family Foundations. It shows that family foundations are used not only to protect family assets and transfer them to successors, but also to optimize taxation. The government is aware of this, which is why the ministries of development and finance led by Andrzej Domański considered it necessary to change the current model of taxation of family foundations.
It is possible that there will be a deeper reconstruction of the entire model, including the introduction of taxation at various stages of the foundation’s operation – from contributing assets, through current income, to the payment of benefits to beneficiaries.
First of all, taxation of certain assets contributed to the foundation was proposed. As the newspaper writes, another change is also being considered – current taxation of part of income. This mainly concerns income from permitted business activities, including rent and lease, regardless of their form, as well as from interest and other debt instruments.
Another attempt to change the regulations on family foundations
The daily reminds that attempts to change were made last year, but President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the amendment to the CIT Act passed by the Sejm in October 2025. He justified his decision by saying that the review of the functioning of family foundations was to take place only after three years (this was explicitly stated in the Family Foundation Act).
How do family foundations earn the most money without paying income tax? The data published in the latest document shows that it mainly comes from joining companies, investment funds, cooperatives and entities of a similar nature. Last year alone, they obtained over PLN 10 billion of tax-exempt income. The purchase and sale of securities, derivatives and rights of a similar nature brought them over PLN 2.8 billion of CIT-exempt income, and the foundations obtained almost PLN 1.6 billion of tax-free income from the sale of property (allowed under the Family Foundation Act).
Last year, a total of 3,017 foundations settled their accounts with the tax office. In the submitted CIT-8FR declaration, they showed PLN 25.3 billion of untaxed income and PLN 15.3 billion of tax-exempt income. However, the tax due amounted to only PLN 126.8 million (with a tax base of PLN 850.3 million). A year earlier, 1,779 foundations submitted declarations. Tax-exempt revenues amounted to PLN 19.6 billion, and tax-free income – PLN 12.4 billion. However, the tax due exceeded PLN 67.2 million.
The Ministry of Finance reveals lost revenues
In the first year of operation of the Act on Family Foundations (entered into force on May 22, 2023), 332 foundations were created. In the declarations submitted for this year, they showed almost PLN 9.5 billion of CIT-exempt income and PLN 5.4 billion of untaxed income. They paid PLN 25.5 million in tax.
Data from the Ministry of Finance quoted by the newspaper show that if income from family foundations were generated by PIT and CIT taxpayers, excluding foundations, the state budget would receive (assuming a 19% income tax rate) over PLN 2.9 billion last year, and almost PLN 2.4 billion in 2024.
