28/5/2026
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Recently, more and more people are earning income in the influencer industry. The amounts involved are steadily increasing, and tax authorities are demanding taxes on such activities. Influencers' income sources are diverse – from donations, through advertising and commercial collaborations, to various forms of civil law contracts. In this article, I will explain how the Polish tax authorities view these forms of earnings and how they should be accounted for.
28/5/2026
It's worth noting that in our country, there's a privilege of unregistered activity. This is a form of earning that does not require business registration, provided certain requirements are met. It allows you to earn money without setting up a company, which means no ZUS contributions and very preferential taxation – often zero.
What are the requirements for conducting such an activity? They are not complicated at all – you cannot exceed the income limit of PLN 3499.50 per month (the limit for 2025), the activities cannot be classified as business activity, meaning they cannot be continuous, organized, and aimed at large-scale profit, and you must keep a sales record where earnings from services, collaborations, etc., are documented.
The taxes for unregistered activity are also quite straightforward. The tax-free amount is currently PLN 30,000 annually, which means that for 8 full months, you can receive the maximum income allowed by NDG (PLN 3499.50) without paying any tax on it. After exceeding PLN 30,000, taxation is 12% on the surplus. The conclusion is that within a year, with unregistered activity, you can pay a maximum of PLN 1439.28 in tax (with PLN 41,994 in income).
So, what can an influencer or streamer do under NDG? The list is long and has few restrictions, as you can: create content, promote products, publish sponsored content, collaborate with brands on marketing campaigns, participate in promotional activities, enter into barter agreements, receive donations*, earn through affiliation*, and much more.
So when do you need to register a business? The answer is simple – after exceeding PLN 3499.50 in monthly income.
Besides unregistered activity, there's another way to earn in the influencer industry without registering a business. This involves signing a civil law contract with individuals who want to collaborate with an influencer. This means that a company wishing for an influencer to, for example, promote its product on Instagram, signs a contract of mandate (umowa-zlecenie) or a contract for specific work (umowa o dzieło) with them. This solution is beneficial when the influencer has irregular, uneven collaborations with relatively small incomes. It's worth choosing this option if you are a beginner influencer who is just testing the market.
Generally, you don't have to worry about taxes on such contracts, as the employer handles them. However, after exceeding PLN 120,000 in income, the tax rate increases from 12% to 32%, making such contracts extremely unprofitable.
As for which type of contract is more profitable, it depends on the circumstances and the status of the entity performing the service/work. A contract of mandate is signed for long-term, repetitive activities, while a contract for specific work is used when a one-time, concrete result is expected. If you are a student/pupil under 26 years old, a contract of mandate will be the most advantageous solution, as there is an exemption from ZUS contributions, and the gross payment amount will be equal to the net amount.
It's important to remember that civil law contracts do not offer the same flexibility as running your own business. You cannot issue an invoice for a specific service to a given company; instead, you have to sign a new contract every time. You cannot deduct costs or VAT. Additionally, many formalities and complications arise when receiving income from various sources, whereas with a company, obligations are almost limited to issuing an invoice and sending it to the client and accounting office.
When establishing a sole proprietorship, you need to choose a form of taxation. Currently, there are three options: general rules, flat tax, and lump-sum tax. The first two are straightforward: general rules mean 12% up to PLN 120,000 of annual income and 32% after exceeding this amount, while the flat tax is 19% regardless of income. For these forms of taxation, the tax is calculated from income– meaning it's paid on the amount deposited into your bank account, reduced by the costs incurred in running the business. I will not address the topic of what constitutes deductible costs in this article. Things get complicated with the lump-sum tax, which, surprisingly, is often the most profitable form of taxation for influencers. It involves taxing revenue (money received in the account), not income, as with the previous two options. Additionally, the tax rate then depends on the activity performed – for influencers and streamers, it's mainly 8.5% and 15%. So, when do these different rates apply? This is a complex matter because tax authorities have not adopted a uniform position, and one can only rely on individual interpretations. Nevertheless, one particular stance is repeatedly echoed in these interpretations, so we can adhere to it to simply explain this topic.
1. 15% is paid for advertising and promotional services – e.g., publishing a sponsored post on Instagram, placing promotional materials in YouTube videos, or promoting discount codes on social media. In short, this rate applies when direct marketing/advertising cooperation is undertaken with a brand, company, or agency. It applies when the advertiser has direct influence over the content and form of the message, and there is an active element of promotion, such as discussing product benefits, promoting a discount code, encouraging a purchase, or consuming a specific beverage.
2. The 8.5% tax rate can be applied when the influencer/streamer does not create advertising content and has no influence over which ads are displayed – mainly when ads are imposed by the platform and no agreements are made with advertisers. This is the case for ads on YouTube, Twitch, and other similar platforms.
What about VAT? Is registering for it as a streamer or influencer worthwhile? The answer to this question won't be the same for everyone, but in most cases, it's beneficial to become a VAT payer. To understand this issue, you should start by determining who you primarily invoice or provide services to. If most of your clients are large companies, marketing agencies, or simply active VAT payers, it won't make a difference to them. If they receive an invoice with VAT, they will simply deduct it and pay the same amount as if it were without VAT. A different situation arises when providing services to private individuals (which is rather rare for influencers), because then, in addition to the basic amount, clients will have to pay an additional 23% VAT, which they cannot deduct. If most transactions are conducted with VAT payers, then becoming one will be profitable. This will allow you to deduct VAT. For example, when purchasing a phone for recording for PLN 5000 gross, you could deduct PLN 1150 in VAT.
This has been a hot topic recently, but it's worth starting from the very beginning. Under the lump-sum tax, donations are taxed at 8.5%, which is quite beneficial, but not as much as accounting for them as a gift. There used to be a belief that donations should be treated as gifts, which has been meticulously debunked by KIS (National Tax Information) for some time now. Classifying them as gifts would, in most cases, mean they wouldn't be subject to any taxation. This is because it's almost impossible to identify every donor, and therefore, payments are not attributed to a specific individual – almost every donation is treated as if it came from a different, independent person. The tax-free amount for a gift from an unrelated person is currently PLN 5733 over five years, so someone would have to transfer more than that amount in a single donation to incur tax. On the other hand, it's rare for someone to support a streamer with an amount exceeding PLN 5733 even within five years, which meant that tax was very easy to avoid.
Currently, only a few streamers can account for donations this way, provided they have secured individual interpretations issued by the director of KIS. The issue of donations is not fully defined in tax matters, which is why authorities sometimes approach the same topic in different ways, even when the situation is often identical. Very rarely, but from time to time, interpretations appear that are favorable to a particular streamer in this regard, so it's worth considering submitting an application for an interpretation for yourself.
So, how should donations be accounted for without the protection of an individual interpretation? Nevertheless, the vast majority of applications for individual interpretations are rejected, and KIS has repeatedly reiterated its position that donations should be accounted for as business revenue. Under the lump-sum tax, the rate for donations is 8.5%, and this should be adhered to. They must be accounted for like any other incoming business transaction.
Should VAT be paid on donations? The answer to this question will probably shock many people, because yes, but it depends on the situation of the donation recipient. Only individuals who are active VAT payers should pay it – those who have registered voluntarily or have exceeded PLN 200,000 in revenue within a year. If an individual does not meet either of these conditions, there is no basis for them to remit VAT. However, it's important to remember the PLN 200,000 threshold, because exceeding it will trigger an obligation to register for VAT and remit tax on donations. It's worth noting that VAT is calculated on the amount sent by the donor, not the amount received by the streamer after the service fee is deducted – if a donation was PLN 100, but after the fee the streamer received PLN 90, they will still pay PLN 23 VAT.
In such a situation, will a streamer who is a VAT payer always pay this tax? No, it depends on the country where the company facilitating the receipt of donations is registered. If it is based in Poland, there will be an obligation to remit the tax independently, but if it is registered abroad, the reverse charge mechanism should be applied – shifting the obligation to account for VAT to the recipient.
If you are an influencer or streamer and are unsure how you should account for your transactions – contact us. As an experienced accounting firm, we will provide you with comprehensive assistance, select the most beneficial form of taxation, and handle your accounting.
* In an unregistered business, donations and affiliate income must be reported on your personal income tax return as other sources of income.