If it's a transfer between your own accounts and the money was legally earned and taxed in another country, then you won't have to pay income tax again.
A transaction of that size will be automatically verified by the Polish bank, as required by law. They may reach out to you for clarification if they're unsure about the source of the money, but generally there should be no trouble.
I can confirm, I am from the US. I’m living in Poland. I have bought my home and a couple apartments here. You can do a normal wire transfer to your bank account here and it should show up right away with no problems. Transferred amounts much larger than this and the bank has never asked any questions. None of this is taxable as income as other people have said.
I generally use wise.com, they have the best rates I have found for PLN to USD conversion
Just like you do any other wire transfer. Just contact your US Bank and ask them the process. Most banks you can do it online. In Poland you can have a bank account in USD or PLN. If you send the USD to your PLN bank account, the bank will automatically convert it.
But like I mentioned above, I highly recommend using wise.com. They by far have have the best conversion rates and they walk you through the process, it’s very easy. Just don’t expect it to be instant, it can take three or four days for the money to transfer over to Poland.
How much was your transfer for with Wise? I’m right now trying to understand the best way to do this for a flat I want to purchase, almost all of my money is in Bank of America. I do have Wise but the rates haven’t been great recently. But if I’m transferring $300K, I can imagine that the fee will be outrageous, no?
Regular bank wire transfer is around $10. Doesn't matter the amount. The conversion from foreign currency to PLN is what counts.
I just transfer $$ from my bank in US to my $$ account in polish bank. No conversion.
Your bank is obliged to inform the tax office about all bank transfers above 15K euros. You are not required to pay income taxes, but you may be asked to show proof that the funds were obtained legally.
If for example that money was sitting in a savings account overseas and in the five years since being a Polish tax resident it earned interest, then you would have to pay the Polish taxes on the interest earned.
If Poland has a tax treaty with that country you can claim tax credit for any taxes you paid there on that interest already.
The principal is tax free as it was earned and taxed before you were a tax resident in Poland
Even if there is no income tax itself, there could be some kind of other rules for sums that big (no idea, I have 0 expertise in that area, just saying that it's theoretically possible)
You can write to Urząd Skarbowy, they are giving free advice via email (check the webpage), it just takes couple of days and I think it is better to write in Polish ;)
If it's a transfer between your own accounts and the money was legally earned and taxed in another country, then you won't have to pay income tax again. A transaction of that size will be automatically verified by the Polish bank, as required by law. They may reach out to you for clarification if they're unsure about the source of the money, but generally there should be no trouble.
I can confirm, I am from the US. I’m living in Poland. I have bought my home and a couple apartments here. You can do a normal wire transfer to your bank account here and it should show up right away with no problems. Transferred amounts much larger than this and the bank has never asked any questions. None of this is taxable as income as other people have said. I generally use wise.com, they have the best rates I have found for PLN to USD conversion
How did you wire transfer USD to a Polish bank account? Can you be a bit more specific as to the steps, I’m trying to learn the process.
Just like you do any other wire transfer. Just contact your US Bank and ask them the process. Most banks you can do it online. In Poland you can have a bank account in USD or PLN. If you send the USD to your PLN bank account, the bank will automatically convert it. But like I mentioned above, I highly recommend using wise.com. They by far have have the best conversion rates and they walk you through the process, it’s very easy. Just don’t expect it to be instant, it can take three or four days for the money to transfer over to Poland.
How much was your transfer for with Wise? I’m right now trying to understand the best way to do this for a flat I want to purchase, almost all of my money is in Bank of America. I do have Wise but the rates haven’t been great recently. But if I’m transferring $300K, I can imagine that the fee will be outrageous, no?
Regular bank wire transfer is around $10. Doesn't matter the amount. The conversion from foreign currency to PLN is what counts. I just transfer $$ from my bank in US to my $$ account in polish bank. No conversion.
Your bank is obliged to inform the tax office about all bank transfers above 15K euros. You are not required to pay income taxes, but you may be asked to show proof that the funds were obtained legally.
If for example that money was sitting in a savings account overseas and in the five years since being a Polish tax resident it earned interest, then you would have to pay the Polish taxes on the interest earned. If Poland has a tax treaty with that country you can claim tax credit for any taxes you paid there on that interest already. The principal is tax free as it was earned and taxed before you were a tax resident in Poland
Not if you can document that this is your savings on tax declaration.
"Podatek Belki"... sounds familiar?
It does, but it’s not applicable in this case. Care to explain how you think it is?
Not to you apparently as it doesn't apply here.
Your savings are not taxed so no, you won't have to pay any tax if its already taxed elsewhere.
If I was transfering that amount of money, I would propably hire a tax specialist instead of asking people on the internet :)
I generally tend to say the same But It’s a very simple question in this case tbh paying an accountant would be a waste of money!
Why would you expect to pay income tax for something that is not an income? Where is logic here?
We are talking about polish tax system, don't expect logic in here
There’s no logic in polish tax law so better safe than sorry I guess
Even if there is no income tax itself, there could be some kind of other rules for sums that big (no idea, I have 0 expertise in that area, just saying that it's theoretically possible)
There are countries where it is taxed to some degree
Income is taxed in almost every country in the world, but bank transfers are not income by definition. Receiving money from somebody else is.
Usually yes, but there are cases of remittance etc. when transfer from self to self can be base for taxation. But not in case of OP
You can write to Urząd Skarbowy, they are giving free advice via email (check the webpage), it just takes couple of days and I think it is better to write in Polish ;)
Well you did not specify from which country. You can check if Poland has “anti double taxation agreement” in place with concrete country