Guide · Forms of taxation
Updated: · 7 min read · By Agnieszka Saladra, Certified Accountant
IP Box is a tax preference that allows income from qualified intellectual property rights to be taxed at a 5% PIT (personal income tax) rate. It is most often used by software developers and IT companies that create software. In this guide we explain what the relief involves in 2026, what conditions must be met and how to settle it.
In short
IP Box (Innovation Box) is an income tax preference that allows income from qualified intellectual property rights to be taxed at 5% instead of the standard 12%, 19% or 32%. The rules are the same for PIT (personal income tax) and CIT (corporate income tax), but in practice the relief is used mainly by people running a sole proprietorship (JDG) in the IT sector.
The relief does not cover the entire revenue of the business, but only income that results from a qualified intellectual property right. Other income - for example from services unrelated to software development - is settled under the existing rules. IP Box is therefore an income preference, not an exemption of the whole activity.
The relief applies to a closed catalogue of rights listed in the act. It includes, among others, a patent, a protection right for a utility model, a right from the registration of an industrial design and - key for the IT sector - copyright to a computer program.
In practice, for developers, identifying the qualified right is relatively simple: if under a contract you transfer the economic copyright to the software you create to the client, then the remuneration for that transfer may constitute income from qualified IP.
IP Box is not a relief that can be applied automatically. Several conditions must be met jointly, the most important of which are research and development activity and separate records.
The qualified right must arise within research and development (R&D) activity. The act defines it as creative activity covering scientific research or development work, undertaken systematically to increase the stock of knowledge and use it to create new applications. In the case of software development, this usually means development work - creating new or improved products and solutions.
The regulations require keeping separate records that make it possible to isolate each qualified right, assign revenue and costs to it, determine the income or loss, and calculate the nexus ratio. The Ministry of Finance emphasises that the absence of such records excludes the right to the relief. It is worth keeping the records on an ongoing basis, from the start of the year, rather than reconstructing them only at settlement time.
Not all income from a qualified right automatically benefits from the 5% rate. The portion covered by the relief is determined by the nexus ratio. This is a formula that compares the costs directly related to creating the right that you incurred yourself or commissioned from unrelated entities, to the total costs related to that right.
Put simply: the more research and development work you carry out yourself or commission from unrelated entities, the higher the nexus ratio, and therefore the larger the share of income that can be covered by the preferential rate. The ratio cannot, however, be higher than 1 (Article 30ca(6) of the PIT Act) - if you do not acquire the results of research and development work from related entities or a ready-made qualified right, it equals 1. Calculating nexus is one of the elements prepared as part of the records.
The most important practical rule: IP Box is settled in the annual return, not in monthly advance payments. During the year you pay tax advances under general rules (according to the chosen form of taxation), and you apply the preferential 5% rate only when filing the annual PIT, using the relevant attachment.
Before their first settlement, many taxpayers apply for an individual tax ruling to confirm that their activity and the way rights are transferred entitle them to the relief. This is voluntary, but it provides protection in the event of a dispute with the tax office.
Since 2022 it has been possible to use the IP Box relief and the research and development (R&D) relief at the same time, in relation to the same income from a qualified right. These are two different mechanisms: R&D is a cost relief (it allows you to additionally deduct part of the costs incurred on research and development activity from the tax base), while IP Box is an income preference (a 5% rate on income from the right).
Combining the two solutions can reduce the tax burden, but it requires careful documentation and correct allocation of costs. Whether it makes sense in your situation and what effect it would have is best calculated individually - this is an area where it is easy to make a mistake.
In 2026 the IP Box relief operates under the existing rules. The changes announced by the Ministry of Finance in draft UD116 - a minimum employment requirement and subjecting income from qualified rights to the solidarity levy - have been removed from that draft. On 18 September 2026 the draft went to the Council of Ministers without the IP Box provisions (as at 21 September 2026).
There is therefore currently no draft legislation restricting access to the 5% rate. The withdrawal of these proposals does not, however, have to mean that the legislator will not return to them - when settling for 2026 you apply the current regulations, and we will update this article once new provisions are enacted.
At Luno-Group we serve clients from the IT sector and help organise settlements under IP Box. We will check whether you meet the conditions, explain the rules for keeping records and present what the annual settlement looks like. An experienced accountant looks after every company, and we run everything in an online accounting model.
Not everyone automatically. You must conduct research and development activity, create a qualified right (copyright to a computer program) and transfer it for remuneration, as well as keep separate records. If these conditions are met, a developer can usually apply the relief.
The rate is 5% and applies to qualified income from intellectual property rights. Other business income that does not result from a qualified right is taxed under general rules according to the chosen form of taxation.
No. During the year you pay advances under general rules, and the 5% rate is applied only in the annual return, together with the PIT/IP attachment. The income covered by the relief is calculated after the end of the tax year.
Yes, this is a necessary condition. The records must make it possible to isolate each qualified right, assign revenue and costs to it, and determine the income and the nexus ratio. The absence of such records excludes the right to use the relief.
Yes. Since 2022 both preferences can be applied to the same income from a qualified right. R&D is a cost relief, while IP Box is an income preference. Combining them, however, requires correct allocation of costs and careful documentation.
No. In 2026 the relief operates under the existing rules. The announced changes (draft UD116) have not entered into force, and the IP Box provisions have been removed from that draft - on 18 September 2026 it went to the Council of Ministers without them. When settling for 2026, you apply the current regulations.