Parents contribute to the down payment, a grandmother gives her grandchild savings, a brother helps his sister after moving. Money donations within the family are a daily occurrence. Close relatives can transfer any amount without tax, but every year many people lose this exemption in two ways: by late submission of SD-Z2 and, even more frequently, by cash handed over directly. Cash can nullify the exemption even if the form was submitted on time. We explain who can donate and how much, how to properly transfer money, how to handle formalities online, what the consequences of mistakes are, and how it looks when money flows from abroad or to abroad.
In Brief
- Close family (the so-called group “0”) does not pay tax regardless of the amount, if two conditions are met: submit SD-Z2 within 6 months of receiving the money and document it via bank transfer to a bank account or SKOK or by postal transfer.
- Cash in hand is the most common mistake. According to the resolution of seven judges of the NSA (III FPS 3/22), the money must be transferred to the account of the donor. If the recipient deposits the received cash themselves, the exemption does not apply.
- Up to 36,120 PLN from one person (the year of receipt and the 5 previous years) requires no formalities. Each parent is a separate donor with a separate limit.
- In-laws, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law are in group I, but not in group “0”. Their donations above the tax-free amount are taxed (3–7%).
- For late submission, you pay tax as group I. If you disclose the donation only before the office, for example, explaining the source of the down payment, you risk a 20% rate.
- From January 7, 2026, a missed deadline for SD-Z2 can be restored if you were late without your fault (art. 4c).
- The exemption requires that the recipient has Polish citizenship, citizenship of another EU country, or Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Norway, or resides in Poland or such a country. This is important for families where the child has only an American passport.
- A donation is not a loan. Money “to be returned” is a different tax (PCC) and different exemption. Do not mix these titles in the transfer.
Money Donation: What You Need to Do
The scheme is a simplified guide to this article. In atypical situations, confirm with the National Tax Information.
Do you need to report a money donation?
Who is the donor to you?
Limits are calculated separately for each donor. Mom and dad are two separate limits.
Does the total amount of donations from this person (the year of receipt and 5 previous years) exceed 36,120 PLN?
How did the money reach you?
Does the total amount of donations from this person (the year of receipt and 5 previous years) exceed 36,120 PLN?
No formalities
Up to 36,120 PLN from one person from group “0” or I (the year of receipt and 5 previous years) you do not submit a report and do not pay tax. It is still good practice to make a transfer with a description.
Zero tax: submit SD-Z2 within 6 months
You submit SD-Z2 within 6 months of receiving the money, for example online, separately for each donor. If the donor deposited cash into your account, keep proof showing that they were the one who made the deposit. The exemption also requires that the recipient has Polish citizenship, citizenship of another EU country, or Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Norway, or resides in Poland or such a country. Keep the transfer confirmation and UPO indefinitely. Details in the section “How to Properly Transfer Money”.
Exemption is lost
Cash handed over directly does not meet the requirement, even with SD-Z2 submitted on time and even if you later deposit it into an account yourself. This cannot be fixed afterward. Submit SD-3 and pay tax according to group I rules before the office asks, as then you risk a 20% rate. Details in the section “Cash in Hand: Why It’s a Trap”.
SD-3 within a month and tax 3–7%
In-laws, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law are in group I, but do not benefit from the full exemption. Over 36,120 PLN, you submit the SD-3 report within a month and pay tax on the excess at rates of 3%, 5%, or 7%.
SD-3 and tax on the excess
The tax-free amount is 27,090 PLN in group II and 5,733 PLN in group III. On the excess, you submit SD-3 within a month and pay tax: from 7% to 12% in group II, from 12% to 20% in group III.
How Much Can Be Donated Without Formalities and When Does Paperwork Begin
| Situation | What You Do |
|---|---|
| Donation from a person in group “0” or I up to 36,120 PLN (total from the year of receipt and 5 years back) | nothing, no report and no tax (it is still good practice to make a transfer with a description) |
| Donation from close family (group “0”) over 36,120 PLN | transfer and SD-Z2 within 6 months, then zero tax regardless of the amount |
| Donation from in-laws, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law (group I) over 36,120 PLN | submit SD-3 within a month and pay tax 3%, 5%, or 7% on the excess |
| Donation from distant relatives (group II) or strangers (group III) | SD-3 and tax on the excess over 27,090 PLN (7–12%) or 5,733 PLN (12–20%) |
- Limits are calculated separately for each donor. Mom and dad are two limits (and two SD-Z2 if necessary), grandma and grandpa are another two.
- Cumulative: sum donations from the same person from the year of receipt and the 5 previous years (art. 9 sec. 2 of the inheritance and donation tax act).
- Group “0” is a colloquial name for persons in art. 4a: spouse, children, grandchildren, and further descendants, parents, grandparents and further ancestors, siblings, stepfather, stepmother, stepchild. All of them formally belong to group I. An unmarried partner is in group III.
How to Properly Transfer Money
- Transfer from the donor to the recipient's account
The law requires that the receipt of money be documented “by proof of transfer to the recipient's payment account, to their account, other than a payment account, in a bank or cooperative savings and credit union or by postal transfer” (art. 4a sec. 1 point 2). This applies when the total amount of donations from this person from the year of receipt and 5 years back exceeds 36,120 PLN. The safest way: a regular transfer from the donor's account. If the donor does not have an account, they can deposit cash into your account at the bank. In that case, the deposit receipt must show that the donor was the one making the deposit. Do not take cash in hand (more below).
- Description of the transfer: short and clear
Just write “Donation from mom Anna Kowalska”. Do not write “loan”, “repayment” or “for the apartment”. The title of the transfer may be the first evidence that the office reads.
- Written donation agreement: not mandatory, but useful
For larger amounts, write a simple agreement: parties, amount, date, signatures. It facilitates SD-Z2, discussions with the bank when applying for a loan, and later settlements within the family. Donations to children are counted towards the inheritance when calculating the reserved portion, regardless of how long ago they were made (art. 994 § 1 of the Civil Code).
- SD-Z2 within 6 months of receipt
The deadline runs from the receipt of the money, as that is when the tax obligation arises (art. 6 sec. 1 point 4). You can submit the report for free online or on paper at the tax office or by mail. Each donor is a separate report.
- Keep evidence forever
Keep the transfer confirmation and UPO with SD-Z2 in your archive. The office may ask about the source of the money even years later, for example, when purchasing real estate. Then these two documents quickly close the topic.
Cash in Hand: Why It’s a Trap
- The dispute over cash was resolved by the resolution of seven judges of the NSA from March 20, 2023 (III FPS 3/22). The condition for exemption is to document the transfer of money in a statutory manner “by the donor to the recipient”.
- Tax authorities apply this consistently. If you received an envelope and deposited the money into your account yourself, the Director of KIS will consider it your own deposit, not a transfer by the donor. The exemption is lost, even with SD-Z2 submitted on time.
- Safe methods include transfers (including from abroad), postal transfers, and cash deposits into your account made by the donor, if the evidence shows who made the deposit.
No, it cannot. The tax obligation arose at the moment the money was handed over (art. 6 sec. 1 point 4), and the condition from art. 4a sec. 1 point 2 concerns the transfer by the donor to the account. Sometimes the idea arises to return the envelope to grandma, and she will deposit the same money into your account. The regulations do not provide for this, and we have not found any KIS interpretations confirming it. The office may consider that the donation occurred already upon handing over. If you still want to do this, first request an individual interpretation.
If the total from this person exceeds 36,120 PLN, submit the SD-3 report and pay tax according to group I rules before the office asks. Otherwise, you risk a 20% rate. The deadline for SD-3 is one month from receiving the money. If it has passed, do it as soon as possible and ask an advisor about active regret. For amounts within 36,120 PLN, nothing happens, as the documentation requirement does not apply to you.
What Are the Consequences of Mistakes
| Mistake | Consequence |
|---|---|
| SD-Z2 after the deadline (and donation over the limit) | Loss of exemption and tax according to the rules of group I (tax-free amount 36,120 PLN, rates 3%, 5%, and 7%), SD-3 report within a month of the deadline. Rescue: if you learned about the donation later, the 6 months count from that day (you must substantiate this). From January 7, 2026, you can also submit a request for restoration of the deadline if you were late without fault (art. 4c). The request must be submitted within 7 days of the cessation of the cause, along with SD-Z2. |
| Donation not reported, which you invoke before the office (verification activities, control, proceedings, typically when explaining the source of the own contribution) | 20% rate (art. 15 sec. 4 in connection with art. 6 sec. 4 of the act), without tax-free amount and without exemptions |
| Failure to document by transfer (group “0”, over the limit) | Exemption is lost despite the submitted SD-Z2, tax as in group I |
| “Donation” that is actually a loan (or vice versa) | Risk of reclassification. A loan incurs a civil law transaction tax of 0.5% with its own family exemption and its own conditions. The title of the transfer and documents must say the same thing. |
Common Scenarios from Life
- Down payment for an apartment: the bank will still ask for documentation of the donation (agreement, transfer, SD-Z2). Do this immediately, not just when applying for a loan. More in the mortgage guide.
- Donation from both parents: easiest is two transfers, one from each parent: two limits, two SD-Z2. If the transfer comes from a joint account, write in the title that it is a donation from both parents equally, and submit two SD-Z2.
- Donation for a minor: the money goes into the child's account, and the SD-Z2 is submitted by the parents as their representatives.
- Wedding and reception: customary gifts from guests usually fall within the tax-free amounts from individual persons. Larger amounts from parents are best transferred and reported in SD-Z2 if the total from one person exceeds the limit.
- Regular support, for example, 2,000 PLN monthly: this also counts as donations and you calculate them cumulatively. When the total from a given person in the 6-year window exceeds 36,120 PLN, submit SD-Z2 within 6 months of the transfer that exceeded the limit, and keep track of deadlines for subsequent transfers.
Money Across Borders: For the Polish Diaspora
- Parent in the USA, child in Poland: the Polish exemption works normally. An international transfer documents the donation, and you submit SD-Z2 within 6 months. On the US side, the donor has obligations: donations over the annual exclusion, which is 19,000 USD per recipient (the same in 2025 and 2026), must be reported on form 709. Tax arises only after exhausting the lifetime limit, which from 2026 is 15 million USD (Public Law 119-21 of July 4, 2025, according to the IRS).
- Parent in Poland, child in the USA: pay attention to the condition from art. 4 sec. 4. The recipient must have Polish citizenship, citizenship of another EU country, or Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Norway, or reside in Poland or such a country. A child with only an American passport living in the USA will not benefit from the exemption and will generally pay tax according to group I on the excess over 36,120 PLN. In the USA, the recipient does not pay tax on the donation, but donations from foreign persons over 100,000 USD in a year must be reported on form 3520. The penalty for failure to report is 5% of the value of the donation for each month, up to a maximum of 25%.
- Bank inquiries: for larger international transfers, the bank may ask about the source of the money. A donation agreement and SD-Z2 will help answer.
Most Common Mistakes When Donating Money
- Cash in hand for amounts over the limit. This mistake cannot be fixed afterward.
- “I will report it when the office asks.” Then instead of 0%, it can be 20%.
- One SD-Z2 for a donation “from parents”. Reports and limits are calculated for each donor separately.
- Counting the limit from zero each year. The window covers the year of receipt and the 5 previous years.
- Confusing group “0” with the entire group I. In-laws, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law do not have full exemption.
- Transfer title “loan” for a donation (and vice versa).
- Throwing away confirmations. Keep evidence permanently.
Frequently Asked Questions
My parents want to give me 200,000 PLN for an apartment. Will I pay tax?
No, if you receive the money by transfer (preferably 100,000 PLN from each parent) and submit two SD-Z2 within 6 months. The exemption for group “0” has no upper limit.
Grandma gave me 50,000 PLN in cash. What now?
You will not recover the exemption. Your deposit of that cash into an account will not meet the requirement (NSA resolution III FPS 3/22), and returning the money to grandma for her to deposit it does not have a basis in the regulations or known interpretations. The safest option is to submit SD-3 and pay tax according to group I before the office asks. You only pay on the excess over 36,120 PLN, which is 13,880 PLN, resulting in about 488 PLN. If you want to try another route, first request an individual interpretation.
Do I need to report 500 PLN monthly from my mom?
No. The window covers a maximum of 6 calendar years, or 72 months. At 500 PLN monthly, that totals 36,000 PLN, which is less than 36,120 PLN, so you will not exceed the limit with a constant amount. If you receive something else from your mom, like a larger gift, recalculate the total.
I forgot about SD-Z2 and 8 months have passed. Is everything lost?
Not necessarily. If you learned about the donation later, the 6 months count from that day. From January 7, 2026, you can also submit a request for restoration of the deadline if you substantiate lack of fault, such as a hospital stay (art. 4c). Ordinary forgetfulness is not enough. Then submit SD-3 and settle the tax according to group I rules before the office asks.
Does the office really detect such donations?
Often in the process: when analyzing transfers during verification activities or when purchasing real estate that does not match income. Then the question arises about the source of the money. If the donation was not reported, and you invoke it before the office, the 20% rate applies (art. 15 sec. 4).
How to report a donation in euros or dollars?
In SD-Z2, you provide the value in PLN, determined on the day the tax obligation arises, i.e., when receiving the money (art. 7 sec. 1). What exchange rate to use, if in doubt confirm with KIS. Confirmation of a currency transfer documents the donation just like a transfer in PLN.
Sources
Status as of October 23, 2026. This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. In atypical situations, confirm with the National Tax Information or request an individual interpretation.
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