From 2026, the tax limit for most cars will be reduced to PLN 100,000.

Starting next year, the tax limit for depreciation and leasing of passenger cars emitting at least 50 g of CO₂ per kilometer will be reduced from PLN 150,000 to PLN 100,000.

The new regulations on tax limits for depreciation and operational leasing of vehicles will take effect on January 1, 2026, and are already causing mixed reactions. There is also an issue with the transitional provision concerning vehicles used under operational leasing agreements.

Here’s how it will work

From 2026, the tax limit for depreciation and lease payments will depend on the CO₂ emission level of a passenger car’s combustion engine. This level will be determined based on data from the Central Vehicle Register, as defined in Article 80a of the Road Traffic Act (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1251, as amended). If the emission level is equal to or greater than 50 g/km, the tax limit will be PLN 100,000. If the emission level is lower, the taxpayer may continue to apply the current limit of PLN 150,000.

The same rules will apply to hybrid vehicles. Depending on their CO₂ emission level, the tax limit will be either PLN 100,000 or PLN 150,000.

The tax limit for electric and hydrogen-powered cars will remain unchanged. After December 31, 2025, it will still amount to PLN 225,000.

Companies will lose out

In practice — as noted by Maciej Jankowski — only taxpayers (companies) using plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), i.e. those charged from an external power source, will benefit from the current limit of PLN 150,000. For vehicles that only recover energy during driving through regeneration, the limit will be PLN 100,000. The problem is that PHEVs are by far the most expensive category of hybrids. Purchasing a new vehicle of this type for under PLN 150,000 is nearly impossible today, the expert points out.

The issue with the transitional provision

Maciej Jankowski also highlights a problem with the transitional provision (Article 30 of the amendment). This provision was intended to allow the continued use of current limits for vehicles that taxpayers (companies) began or will begin using before January 1, 2026.

However — as the expert notes — the wording of Article 30 implies that the new rules will apply to all operational leasing agreements, even those concluded before January 1, 2026.

The existing rules will apply only “to vehicles entered into the taxpayer’s register of fixed assets and intangible assets before the date of entry into force” of the amendment.

The expert emphasizes that in the case of operational leasing, the lessee does not enter the vehicle into their own records — the vehicle remains on the leasing company’s register.

“This gap may raise significant interpretative doubts,” the expert warns.

Tax limit for depreciation and leasing of passenger cars under PIT and CIT

*Electric vehicles as defined in Article 2(12) of the Act on Electromobility and Alternative Fuels, and hydrogen-powered vehicles as defined in Article 2(15) of the same Act.