End of joint liability for real estate tax? Poland’s Ministry of Finance announces changes

Under current rules, if a house, plot of land or garage has two or more co-owners, the municipality may collect the entire real estate tax from a single, arbitrarily chosen co-owner, based on the so-called joint tax obligation. In practice, this often means one co-owner ends up covering the liability for the others, particularly where there is conflict between them.

The Ministry of Finance has published draft assumptions for an amendment (legislative work list no. UD466) intended to change this. The key proposals are:

• abolishing joint and several liability, and the joint tax obligation, for real estate tax — each co-owner would be liable only for their own share in the property,
• removing the obligation for a new owner to file a separate notification on the acquisition of real estate, and shifting this duty to the notary, who would send the tax authority an extract from the notarial deed,
• excluding from taxation land and buildings (or parts thereof) occupied by municipal, county (powiat), voivodeship and metropolitan offices,
• excluding from taxation municipally owned real estate covered by an exemption, and land held under municipal perpetual usufruct.

Taxation by shares — what about joint ownership and spouses?

Under the draft assumptions, where real estate is co-owned in fractional shares, the tax obligation would be determined in proportion to each co-owner’s share. A similar rule — based on a legal fiction of equal shares — would apply to joint ownership and joint possession.

Property covered by marital community of property would be regulated separately, with details to follow once the draft amendment itself is published. It cannot be ruled out that spouses who co-own, for example, a house will end up settling real estate tax in equal halves, while still being able to have one spouse voluntarily pay the full amount.

As Michał Nielepkowicz, Partner at Thedy & Partners, comments:

“Introducing a general rule that co-owners are liable only for their own share should eliminate the doubts that regularly arise in practice when settling real estate tax in cases of co-ownership.”

The expert stresses that the most important effect is eliminating the risk of the entire tax being enforced against a single, arbitrarily selected co-owner — something previously possible whenever not all co-owners had settled their part of the liability.

Fewer formalities after buying property

The second significant change would remove individuals’ obligation to file a separate notification on the acquisition or disposal of residential real estate. This duty would instead fall on the notary, who would send the tax authority an extract from the notarial deed.

As Michał Nielepkowicz notes, individuals often forget to file this separate notification, mistakenly assuming the notary handles all the formalities. The proposed change would give that assumption a legal basis and remove the risk of taxpayers missing the filing deadline.

What about businesses?

Michał Nielepkowicz points out that while the Ministry of Finance continues to tidy up real estate tax rules, the announced changes do not address the issues most pressing for business taxpayers. In his view, companies should see this amendment mainly as a signal that the legislator is paying attention to real estate tax — and hope it paves the way for further, more eagerly awaited changes.

The draft amendment itself — including details on the treatment of spouses — is still to come.

Based on: Łukasz Zalewski, Business Insider Polska, 12 September 2026, with commentary from Michał Nielepkowicz, Partner at Thedy & Partners.