POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Michał Wielhorski, Mateusz Prokopiuk, Małgorzata Wąsowska and Klaudia Michalec, act legal Poland
Amendment to Regulations on Property Tax The amendment to the property tax regulations has been in effect since 1 January 2025. The new regulations involve changes to the way in which buildings are classified and how the relat - ed tax is calculated. The amendment introduced autonomous (ie, independent of the construc - tion law) definitions of “building” and “structure” and defined in detail the criteria that a building project must fulfil. As part of the amendment, selected building and technical facilities were subject to tax. The real estate rights that can be acquired in Poland are categorised within the Polish legal system as follows. • Ownership – the title of ownership is the full - est of all property rights, providing the owner with the widest range of rights with regard to real property. • Perpetual usufruct – this is a right to use property that remains owned by either the State Treasury or the local government unit. 2. Sale and Purchase 2.1 Categories of Property Rights Although the perpetual usufructuary has broad rights to use the property, it is impor - tant to note that perpetual usufruct is a lim - ited right, which lasts from 40 to 99 years and can be renewed once. Buildings and other facilities erected by the perpetual usufructu - ary on the land constitute property of the usufructuary rather than of the land owner. • Other categories of property rights include lease, tenancy, usufruct, and servitude. 2.2 Laws Applicable to Transfer of Title The transfer of property ownership is primarily governed by the provisions of the Civil Code.
There are also special regulations in Polish law that limit the ability to dispose of various types of property, such as agricultural or forest prop - erties, as well as restrictions on the acquisition of property by foreigners from outside the EEA (European Economic Area). In addition, the Polish legal system has a num - ber of regulations granting a statutory right of pre-emption for certain categories of real estate in the event of sale – for example, the right of pre-emption of the right of perpetual usufruct (for undeveloped real estate) or a statutory right of repurchase or to acquire real estate (eg, agri - cultural real estate). 2.3 Effecting Lawful and Proper Transfer of Title Ownership title to real estate (or, respectively, the right of perpetual usufruct) can be transferred inter alia by means of a sale, exchange or dona - tion agreement. The agreement on the transfer of ownership title to real estate must be con - cluded in the form of a notarial deed, otherwise it is considered null and void. Furthermore, such an agreement cannot be concluded on the con - dition of a future and uncertain event or subject to a certain deadline. The transfer of ownership of the property must therefore be unconditional. Any condition stipulated in the transfer agree - ment will render it invalid. Ownership title of the real estate is transferred to the purchaser upon conclusion of a binding agreement (eg, a sale, exchange or donation agreement) unless a specific provision states otherwise or the parties to the contract have agreed otherwise. As a general rule, an entry in the land and mort - gage register is only declaratory – ie, it is a con - firmation, which means that the property can
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