Visa holders · From Poland
A 2013 treaty never took effect, so after moving to the US from Poland, taxes still fall under the 1974 treaty.
The 2013 replacement, signed that February, has waited for a US Senate vote since 2014. The 1974 treaty has no pension or social security article, so Poland and the US can both tax a ZUS pension.
Updated · Sources
Polish interest and dividends paid to a US resident
- 0%
- of Polish interest is taxed by Poland under Article 12(1), once the payer has your US certificate.
- 15%
- is the ceiling on Polish tax from a Polish company’s dividend, set by Article 11(2).
- 19%
- is withheld by Polish banks and brokers from interest and dividends until they have your US certificate of residence.
That certificate is Form 6166, the IRS certificate of US residency, which you request on Form 8802 at least 45 days ahead. A Polish citizen should confirm these rates with a Polish adviser.
What happens to your Polish taxes when you leave?
Poland taxes a resident on income from anywhere, and a non-resident only on income from Poland.
Your family stays in Poland
Poland keeps you resident while your center of vital interests, meaning your personal or economic ties, stays there. That holds however long you spend abroad. The Ministry of Finance says a spouse, partner or minor children in Poland usually keep your personal ties there. Moving the whole family usually moves them. Work, a business or your main income in Poland can still keep you resident.
You spend over 183 days in Poland
More than 183 days in Poland in a tax year makes you resident on its own, wherever your family lives. The days need not run in a row, and any part of a day counts.
You leave partway through the year
Polish residence can end mid-year: Poland then taxes your worldwide income up to the change, and only Polish income after it. In a Ministry of Finance example, a man who left for good on May 31 was a non-resident from June 1.
The US counts you as resident too
A green card or the substantial presence test can make you a US resident while Poland still counts you as one. As a US resident, you report your income from Poland on your US return, with the rest of your worldwide income. The treaty’s tie-breaker weighs your permanent home, then your center of vital interests, then where you usually live and, last, your citizenship. Claiming Polish residence under it means filing Form 1040-NR with Form 8833.
Your shares and funds pass PLN 4,000,000
Poland’s exit tax generally takes 19% of unrealized gains on shares, fund units and other securities once their total market value passes PLN 4,000,000. Spouses share one limit for their joint property. It reaches only someone resident in Poland for 5 or more of the last 10 years. Real estate, bank deposits and cash do not count.
Deregistering your address in Poland (wymeldowanie) does not end your tax residence by itself.
Poland’s exit tax and a later US sale can tax the same gain twice.
The exit tax is due in full, since Poland allows installments only for moves within the EU or the EEA. Become a Polish resident again within 5 years of the end of your departure year, and you can reclaim it.
Gain Poland measures on leaving
PLN 2M
It is the shares’ value the day before you leave, less the price you paid.
Exit tax
PLN 380,000
That is 19% of the gain, owed even though you sold nothing.
US gain on a later sale at that value
PLN 2M
IRC 1012 measures the US gain from the PLN 3,000,000 you paid, so the same PLN 2M is taxed again.
US gain if you sell before you move
PLN 0
A sale before your US residency starts generally falls outside US tax, though Poland still taxes the gain at 19%.
The shares are listed outside Poland, so the exit tax reaches them whatever your citizenship. A US resident’s later gain on them is generally US-source under IRC 865, so the exit tax may earn no US credit. We found no IRS ruling on the point. Form PIT-NZ and the tax are generally due by the 7th of the month after the move. A Polish adviser should confirm that date. Amounts stay in zloty, with exchange rates left out.
What would change if the 2013 US-Poland tax treaty took effect?
Poland’s parliament approved the 2013 treaty the same year, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee backed it in 2014 and again in 2016.
| 1974 (in force) | 2013 (pending) | |
|---|---|---|
| ZUS pension | Both countries can tax it | Only Poland can tax it Article 18(3) |
| A private pension from Poland | Both countries can tax it | Taxed where you live Article 18(1), though Poland may still tax its citizens |
| Growth inside PPK, IKE or IKZE | No treaty deferral | Still no US deferral The saving clause lets the US tax it despite Article 18(4) |
| A student’s US pay | $2,000 a year exempt For up to 5 years, until a green card | $9,000 a year exempt |
What you keep in Poland can cost you on a US return.
Holding an FIO or FIZ as a US resident
The US generally treats a Polish investment fund as a corporation, because its investors have limited liability. That covers an open-end FIO, a specialized open-end SFIO and a closed-end FIZ. Such a fund is usually a passive foreign investment company (PFIC), and each one generally needs a Form 8621 every year. Without an election, the part of a gain assigned to earlier years pays the top US rate plus interest.
Counting on IKE, IKZE or PPK to defer US tax
The US can tax what an IKE, IKZE or PPK account earns as it grows. The IRS has not said how it classifies these accounts. Form 8621’s exception for pension funds does not cover funds held inside them. Cashing out a PPK early costs you in Poland too, since 30% of the employer-funded part goes to ZUS.
Treating PPK as exempt from US reporting
A PPK, IKE or IKZE account may belong on your FBAR and Form 8938. PPK’s $50,000 yearly cap on contributions matches the FATCA agreement’s test for accounts Polish institutions need not report. That test governs only what those institutions send the IRS, not your own filings.
Working B2B for a Polish client from the US
Under the US-Poland Social Security agreement, in force since March 1, 2009, the self-employed pay where they live. A B2B contractor resident in the US therefore generally owes US self-employment tax. An employee posted here by a Polish employer stays in ZUS only with a certificate of coverage from ZUS.
We file your US returns and report what you still hold in Poland.
We work alongside the accountant who handles your Polish taxes, so each side knows what the other has filed.
- We prepare every federal and state return from the year you arrive. On a dual-status first return, we leave out Polish pay you received before your US residency began. A joint return by election includes that pay, so we compare the two before we file.
- We work out which Polish accounts, PPK and IKE included, belong on your FBAR and Form 8938. We add a Form 8621 to your return for every Polish fund that requires it. Every Polish account and fund you list is priced into the instant quote.
- We file Form 3520 for any year in which gifts from your family pass $100,000.
- We claim a US foreign tax credit on Form 1116 for the Polish tax on your ZUS pension. On dividends, we credit Polish tax up to the treaty’s 15%, since tax withheld above that rate earns no US credit.
- We work out how much US tax you avoid by selling Polish shares and funds before your US residency starts. We also set quarterly estimated payments for Polish rent or a ZUS pension.
- Letters from the IRS or a state about a return we prepared, including its Polish income, are answered within your fee.
- Individual return
- from $195
- Business return
- from $495
We quote a flat fee before work starts. We do not bill hourly.
Which Polish taxes still reach you once you live in the US?
Does Poland have a tax treaty with the USA?
Yes. The 1974 US-Poland tax treaty applies, and it has been in force since July 22, 1976. It exempts Polish interest paid to a US resident and caps Polish tax on dividends at 15%. Its saving clause lets each country tax its own citizens and residents as if there were no treaty, with listed exceptions. We found no Polish guidance on how Poland applies that clause to Polish citizens living in the US. A successor treaty, signed on February 13, 2013, still awaits US Senate approval, so it has no effect.
Is Poland a high tax country?
In 2026, Poland taxes income at 12% up to PLN 120,000 of taxable income and at 32% above it. A PLN 3,600 tax reduction leaves the first PLN 30,000 effectively untaxed. Income over PLN 1,000,000 also pays a 4% solidarity levy, for a top rate of 36%. Interest, dividends and gains on securities, funds and property pay a flat 19%. Social insurance adds 19.52% of pay for pensions, split equally with your employer, and 8% for disability, of which you pay 1.5%.
Is my ZUS pension taxed in the US?
Yes, once you are a US resident, since no article of the 1974 treaty covers social security. The US taxes it under the annuity rules, not the rules for US Social Security, so the 85% cap does not apply. Part of each payment may come back tax-free as your own contributions, though the IRS has not said how much. ZUS’s guide for US residents says it takes a Polish income tax advance out of each payment. You can claim that Polish tax as a US foreign tax credit. The 2013 treaty would leave ZUS benefits to Poland alone, but it is not in force.
Do I have to tell the Polish tax office about a gift from my parents?
Yes, once gifts from one parent pass PLN 36,120 (the 2026 limit) over the year of the gift and the 5 years before it. Filing form SD-Z2 within 6 months keeps them tax-free, if money came by bank transfer or postal order. Polish, EU and EFTA-EEA citizens get the exemption wherever they live, but a child living in the US with only US citizenship does not. Without the exemption, the tax is 3% to 7% above PLN 36,120, or 20% if the gift first surfaces in an audit. The US does not tax the gift, but gifts from your parents over $100,000 in a year go on Form 3520.
Sources
- US-Poland income tax convention (1974)
- Treasury, technical explanation of the US-Poland convention (1974)
- US-Poland income tax convention signed February 13, 2013 (not in force)
- US Department of State, Treaties pending in the Senate
- Poland, Personal Income Tax Act (ustawa o podatku dochodowym od osób fizycznych), unified text
- Ministry of Finance (Poland), tax explanations on tax residence (April 29, 2021)
- Poland, Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (ustawa o podatku od spadków i darowizn), unified text
- Poland, Employee Capital Plans Act (ustawa o pracowniczych planach kapitałowych), unified text
- Social Security Administration, US-Poland social security agreement (text)
- ZUS (Poland), guide to ZUS pensions for people living in the US (October 2017)
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8802 (Rev. October 2024)
- IRS, Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits
- 26 U.S.C. § 1012, Basis of property: cost
- 26 U.S.C. § 865, Source rules for personal property sales
- 26 U.S.C. § 1297, Passive foreign investment company
- 26 C.F.R. § 1.1298-1, Section 1298(f) annual reporting for PFIC shareholders (Form 8621)
- 26 C.F.R. § 1.901-2, Income, war profits, or excess profits tax paid or accrued
- 31 C.F.R. § 1010.350, Reports of foreign financial accounts
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8938
- IRS, Instructions for Form 3520
Reviewed and updated September 2026. General information, not advice for your situation.