MDR changes in Poland 2026: what companies must do before 1 October
From 1 October 2026, Poland’s Mandatory Disclosure Rules (MDR) will generally apply only to reportable cross-border arrangements. VAT and excise arrangements will fall outside the MDR framework, while the separate supporting-party role and the statutory requirement to maintain an internal MDR procedure will be removed. Companies should nevertheless reassess participant roles, review open cases and determine which obligations must still be completed under the existing rules. Fiscal penal exposure for late or missing reports will remain substantial.
MDR changes in Poland 2026 will significantly reduce the number of arrangements subject to reporting. At the same time, the Polish tax authorities’ attention will shift towards cross-border transactions. International groups will need to determine not only whether an arrangement meets a statutory hallmark, but also which entity is responsible for reporting, whether sufficient evidence of reporting in another EU Member State is available and how the transitional provisions apply.
The reform was introduced by the Act of 29 May 2026 amending the Polish Tax Ordinance Act and certain other acts, published on 25 June 2026. The principal amendments concerning MDR will take effect on 1 October 2026.
In this article:
What will change under Poland’s MDR reform from 1 October 2026?
The most significant change is the removal of domestic tax arrangement reporting. Under the new Polish rules, MDR will be limited to reportable cross-border arrangements.
| Area | Until 30 September 2026 | From 1 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting scope | Domestic and cross-border arrangements | Cross-border arrangements |
| VAT and excise duty | May fall within domestic MDR | Excluded from MDR |
| Statutory roles | Promoter, beneficiary and supporting party | Promoter and beneficiary |
| MDR procedure | Statutory requirement for specified entities | No statutory requirement |
| MDR-2 | Notification required in specified circumstances | Form abolished |
| MDR-3 | Filed for the reporting periods required under the existing rules | Generally filed once a year, by the end of the fourth month following the end of the relevant year |
| MDR-3 signature | Restricted representation rules | May be signed by an authorised representative |
| Individual tax rulings | Subject to disputes with the tax authorities | Expressly excluded by statute |
The reform also changes several core definitions and removes certain Polish hallmarks that extend beyond the minimum requirements of the EU DAC6 framework.
Will domestic tax arrangements still be reportable in Poland after 1 October 2026?
No. Arrangements concerning Poland only, which do not meet the cross-border criterion, will no longer constitute reportable arrangements under the amended Polish MDR rules.
Companies should not, however, automatically close all domestic MDR cases on 1 October. Certain obligations with deadlines falling on or before 30 October 2026 will still be performed under the existing rules. In addition, where a domestic arrangement was reported before the reform took effect, information about its use after 1 October will no longer need to be submitted. Companies should therefore distinguish between obligations that must be completed before 1 October, cases covered by the transitional provisions and arrangements that will no longer be reportable after the reform. Applying the transitional provisions requires an analysis of when the arrangement was made available, prepared for implementation or first implemented. The invoice date or the date on which an agreement was signed will not necessarily determine which rules apply.
Which transactions may still be reportable under MDR in Poland?
Following the reform, the principal area of MDR exposure will be cross-border arrangements meeting at least one statutory hallmark. The involvement of a foreign entity does not, by itself, make a transaction reportable.
Transactions that may continue to require an MDR assessment include:
- intra-group financing, including loans and cash-pooling arrangements;
- cross-border restructurings and transfers of functions, assets or risks;
- transfers of intangible assets or intellectual property rights;
- payments to associated enterprises in jurisdictions applying preferential taxation;
- arrangements affecting the automatic exchange of information or the identification of beneficial owners;
- transactions involving permanent establishments or changes in tax residence.
Removing the additional Polish-specific hallmarks will reduce the number of reports relating to dividends, withholding tax in Poland and non-resident income. It does not mean that every such payment will automatically fall outside MDR. Where a cross-border transaction meets another DAC6 hallmark, a reporting obligation may still arise.
The exclusion of VAT and excise duty from MDR does not affect obligations concerning VAT returns, the Standard Audit File for Tax (JPK), the National e-Invoicing System (KSeF) or excise duty compliance.
What does abolishing the separate supporting-party role mean?
The separate statutory role of the supporting party will be removed. However, the activities previously performed by supporting parties will not disappear. Some entities carrying out such activities may qualify as promoters under the amended rules.
The new definition of a promoter will cover not only an entity that designs, markets or makes an arrangement available, but also an entity carrying out specified supporting activities where it knew or could reasonably have been expected to know that it was participating in a reportable arrangement. The definition will also be subject to an appropriate nexus with the European Union.
A new written-statement mechanism will be particularly relevant to accounting firms, tax advisers, banks, law firms and shared service centres. An entity carrying out supporting activities will be able to request written confirmation from the instructing party that the arrangement is not reportable. Failure to provide the statement within seven days will trigger a statutory presumption that the promoter has identified a reportable arrangement. The service provider will be able to suspend the relevant activities until the matter has been clarified. In practice, engagement agreements, MDR checklists and internal escalation channels should be updated.
When must the beneficiary report a cross-border arrangement itself?
The beneficiary — broadly corresponding to the relevant taxpayer under DAC6 terminology — will be required to report an arrangement where no promoter is involved or where the promoter does not provide confirmation that a Polish Tax Scheme Number (NSP) has been assigned. Where the NSP has not yet been issued, the promoter should provide the beneficiary with written confirmation that the arrangement has been reported, together with evidence that the filing was submitted to the Head of the National Revenue Administration. The beneficiary will also become responsible for reporting where it receives the relevant notification from a promoter protected by legally recognised professional secrecy.
As a rule, the beneficiary will have 30 days to submit the information. The period will begin on the day following the earliest of the following events:
- the arrangement is made available for implementation;
- the arrangement is ready for implementation;
- the first step in implementing the arrangement is carried out.
Particular attention will be required where an advocate, attorney-at-law, tax adviser, patent attorney or person holding an equivalent foreign professional title cannot disclose the information because of protected professional secrecy. The promoter will have seven days to notify the client. The beneficiary should then verify the information and submit the report, even where it reaches a different conclusion regarding the arrangement.
How will MDR-3 filing rules change in Poland?
As a rule, MDR-3 will be filed once a year, by the end of the fourth month following the end of the relevant tax year or calendar year. The information return may also be signed by an authorised representative.
A separate MDR-3 form will be required for each arrangement. The filing will include, among other information, the NSP and the amount of the tax benefit obtained or an estimate of that benefit.The annual deadline should simplify the administration of arrangements used across multiple reporting periods. However, companies will need to link their MDR registers with the year-end close and tax calculation processes.nUsing an authorised representative may reduce delays, but it will not release the beneficiary from responsibility for the information submitted or for the classification of the arrangement.
Can companies discontinue their MDR procedure after the reform?
The statutory requirement to maintain and apply an internal MDR procedure will be repealed. Companies should nevertheless retain operational controls for identifying and reporting cross-border arrangements.
Administrative financial penalties for failing to introduce or correctly apply an MDR procedure will also be removed. This does not mean that deleting the procedure from the compliance framework will be risk-free. Without clearly allocated responsibilities, information flows and deadlines, it may be difficult to demonstrate due diligence or prevent late reporting.
A practical approach is to replace the existing extensive procedure with a shorter operational instruction covering:
- transactions that must be referred for MDR assessment;
- responsible persons in the tax, finance and legal departments;
- cooperation with advisers and other group entities;
- documentation supporting the conclusion that no reporting obligation exists;
- storage of NSPs and evidence of reporting in another jurisdiction.
The review may form part of broader tax advisory services in Poland covering MDR and cross-border transactions.
Can a company obtain an individual tax ruling on MDR after 1 October 2026?
No. The amended legislation expressly excludes provisions concerning the reporting of tax arrangements from the individual tax ruling system.
Applications submitted before 1 October 2026 are expected to be considered under the existing rules. After that date, businesses will need to rely primarily on the legislation, the DAC6 Directive, the tax authorities’ practice and documentation of their own decision-making process.
Companies should therefore retain a written classification memorandum setting out the relevant facts, applicable hallmarks and the roles of the participants.
What penalties apply for MDR breaches in Poland in 2026?
The removal of penalties relating to the internal procedure does not reduce sanctions for failing to comply with MDR information obligations. An individual may still be held liable under the Polish Fiscal Penal Code (KKS) for failing to report or for reporting after the applicable deadline.
Amended Article 80f of the KKS provides for a fine of up to 720 daily rates for the most serious infringements. With Poland’s minimum monthly wage set at PLN 4,806 in 2026, the theoretical maximum fine may reach PLN 46,137,600.
This amount represents the statutory maximum rather than a standard or automatically imposed penalty. The actual fine will depend on factors including the circumstances of the offence, the level of culpability and the financial and personal position of the individual concerned.
Liability may apply to specific individuals responsible for the company’s financial and tax affairs. The company’s responsibility matrix should therefore identify the process owner, an appropriate deputy and the applicable escalation route.
What should a company do before 1 October 2026?
A practical preparation plan should cover five actions:
- Map open arrangements — with particular attention to restructurings, financing, cross-border payments and changes to operating models.
- Separate obligations under the old and new rules — based on the dates of the events triggering the reporting deadline and the applicable transitional provisions.
- Reassess participant roles — particularly entities that have previously acted as supporting parties.
- Update documents and contracts — including the seven-day written-statement mechanism and rules for handling protected professional secrecy.
- Establish the annual MDR-3 process — covering tax-benefit data, powers of attorney, filing deadlines and responsibility for signing the return.
The review should also examine how information about new transactions and projects is communicated to the company’s tax team.
What do Poland’s MDR changes mean for foreign companies?
For international groups, one of the greatest risks will be inconsistent classification of the same arrangement in different jurisdictions. Another will be the absence of sufficient evidence that the reporting obligation was correctly performed by another participant.
A Polish company may assume that the group’s headquarters has submitted the report, while the headquarters may consider the Polish beneficiary responsible. Documentation should therefore identify the reporting jurisdiction, the entity responsible, the filing date, the reference number and the legal basis on which the other participants were released from reporting.
Foreign investors should also ensure that their MDR assessment is consistent with their transfer pricing documentation, withholding tax position, permanent establishment settlements and group restructuring documentation. Embedding MDR assessments into ongoing accounting services in Poland and tax compliance processes reduces the risk that a transaction will only be reviewed after the reporting deadline has expired.
The reform taking effect on 1 October 2026 removes the most burdensome elements of the Polish MDR system: domestic arrangement reporting, the separate supporting-party role, the MDR-2 form and the statutory internal procedure requirement. At the same time, it retains extensive obligations for cross-border arrangements and substantial fiscal penal sanctions.
For businesses, the appropriate response is not to eliminate the MDR process entirely, but to adapt it to the amended Polish rules and focus it on cross-border arrangements. As part of its tax advisory services in Poland, getsix® supports companies in assessing how legislative changes affect their tax settlements, reporting obligations and internal compliance processes.
Legal basis:
- Act of 29 May 2026 amending the Polish Tax Ordinance Act and certain other acts (Journal of Laws of 2026, item 846).
If you have any questions regarding this topic or if you are in need for any additional information – please do not hesitate to contact us:
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS DEPARTMENT
ELŻBIETA
NARON-GROCHALSKA
Head of Customer Relationships
Department / Senior Manager
getsix® Group
***
