Inheritance Tax on Crypto in Poland: SD-Z2 and the Deadline

Your father left a bank account, a flat and a Trezor in a desk drawer. The court has issued a ruling confirming the inheritance, and the siblings have agreed to split it equally. The question that comes up most often next: do you owe tax on that bitcoin, and by when do you have to file the paperwork?

This guide covers the rules we read in the Polish act on inheritance and gift tax and on the Ministry of Finance’s pages. It applies to estates handled under Polish law and Polish tax rules. Other EU countries have their own rules and deadlines, so if the inheritance is handled elsewhere, check locally. We don’t calculate tax amounts and we don’t decide your case. This is not legal or tax advice; for your own case, ask a tax adviser or a notary.

Is an inheritance of cryptocurrency taxed

Inheritance and gift tax applies to acquiring ownership of things and property rights by inheritance (Article 1 of the act). Cryptocurrency is an asset that passes into the estate like any other. The inheritance tax act has no separate rules for crypto, so the same rules apply as for money in a bank account or a car.

For an inheritance, the tax obligation arises when the court ruling confirming the inheritance becomes final, when the notarial certificate of succession (akt poświadczenia dziedziczenia) is registered, or when a European Certificate of Succession is issued (Article 6(1)(1)). So it doesn’t arise on the day of death. It arises on the day there’s a document confirming who inherits. That matters for deadlines and valuation, covered below.

Inheritance tax is a different tax from PIT, the personal income tax. The PIT act doesn’t apply to income that’s subject to the inheritance and gift tax rules (Article 2(1)(3) of the PIT act). So inheriting alone doesn’t require a PIT return, but a later sale does.

The zero group: who is exempt

Acquisition by a spouse, descendants, ascendants, stepchild, siblings, stepfather and stepmother is exempt from tax, provided they report the acquisition to the competent head of the tax office (Article 4a(1)). In everyday speech that’s the zero group. According to podatki.gov.pl, the exemption applies to acquisitions after 31 December 2006 by a person who, at the time of acquisition, was a citizen of Poland, another EU state, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, or lived in one of those countries.

A son-in-law, daughter-in-law and parents-in-law are in tax group I but not in the zero group (Article 14(3)(1)). They may have a tax-free allowance, but not the Article 4a exemption.

Relationship to the deceased	Group	Article 4a exemption
Spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents	I, including zero	Yes, after reporting on SD-Z2
Stepchild, stepfather, stepmother	I, including zero	Yes, after reporting on SD-Z2
Siblings	I, including zero	Yes, after reporting on SD-Z2
Son-in-law, daughter-in-law, parents-in-law	I	No, tax-free allowance and tax scale
Siblings’ descendants, parents’ siblings, siblings’ spouses	II	No
Other persons	III	No

The 6-month deadline and when it starts

You must file the report within 6 months. The most common mistake is counting from the date of death. The provision says something else.

Situation	When the 6 months start
Inheritance confirmed by a court	When the ruling confirming the inheritance becomes final (Article 4a(1)(1))
Notarial certificate of succession (akt poświadczenia dziedziczenia)	When the certificate is registered (Article 4a(1a))
European Certificate of Succession	When the certificate is issued (Article 4a(1a))
You learn about part of the estate after the deadline has passed	From the day you found out, if you make the later discovery credible (Article 4a(2))

The last row applies to crypto more often than you’d think. Years later, a family can be surprised by a wallet nobody knew about. The provision then sets a separate 6-month period from the day the heir learned of the acquisition, provided the heir makes it credible that they didn’t know earlier. How the tax office judges that depends on the specific circumstances.

If the conditions for the exemption aren’t met, including a missed deadline, the acquisition is taxed under the rules for tax group I (Article 4a(3)). Podatki.gov.pl states plainly that being even one day late means losing the exemption. There is a way out: Article 4c allows an application to restore the deadline if the delay was not the taxpayer’s fault. According to podatki.gov.pl, the application is filed within 7 days of the cause ceasing, together with the SD-Z2 report.

When SD-Z2 isn’t needed

The duty to report doesn’t apply where the value of property acquired from the same person, added to the value of property acquired from that person earlier in the year of acquisition and in the 5 preceding years, doesn’t exceed the amount in Article 9(1)(1) (Article 4a(4)(1)). For group I, under the consolidated text, that’s 36,120 PLN. So the whole inheritance counts towards that sum, not just the crypto, and for gifts, earlier gifts from the same person are added.

If the estate includes crypto, a flat or savings, that amount is easily exceeded. Don’t count on this exemption without checking. Filing SD-Z2 is free, so when in doubt, the report usually costs less than a mistake.

Form SD-Z2: how to file it

SD-Z2 is the “Report on the acquisition of ownership of things or property rights” (Zgłoszenie o nabyciu własności rzeczy lub praw majątkowych). The current template is on podatki.gov.pl under SD forms. According to gov.pl:

1. Each heir files a separate report.
2. You can send it online through podatki.gov.pl or e-Urząd Skarbowy (signed with authorising data or a qualified electronic signature), or file it on paper in person or by post.
3. You choose the competent tax office: for an inheritance, usually by the location of the real estate, and otherwise by the deceased’s last place of residence.
4. The service is free. You don’t attach documents, but the office may ask for confirmation, for example of a bank transfer.

In the report you give the deceased’s details, the property rights acquired and their market value (Article 4a(5)(3)). For crypto, the description should say what kind of asset it is, for example “bitcoin, hardware wallet”, not the seed and not an address. Never enter recovery words or anything else that would let someone move the funds into the form.

How to value crypto on the acquisition date

The tax base is the value of the acquired things after deducting debts and burdens, determined according to the state of the things on the date of acquisition and market prices from the day the tax obligation arises (Article 7(1)). For an inheritance, that’s the day the ruling becomes final or the certificate is registered, not the day of death. The price of crypto on those two dates can differ a lot.

The act doesn’t say which source to take a cryptocurrency rate from. This is where what we can say with confidence ends. We can only suggest a sensible routine: pick one reliable price source, note the date, time and rate, take a screenshot and keep it with the document confirming the acquisition. If the office challenges the value, you have something to show. Whether it’s better to use the rate from one exchange or an average is a question for a tax adviser who knows your office’s practice.

Before you can value anything, you first have to establish how much crypto is in the wallet and whether it can be recovered at all. How to do that safely is in the guide Inherited crypto: what next.

Other tax groups

Outside the zero group there is no Article 4a exemption. The tax depends on the acquirer’s tax group and the tax-free allowance, which under Article 9(1) is 36,120 PLN for group I, 27,090 PLN for group II and 5,733 PLN for group III (acquisition from one person, adding acquisitions from the last 5 years). The tax scale depends on the group and on the amount above the allowance. We don’t give rates or examples, because that would require knowing your whole situation.

People outside the zero group file a tax return on the acquisition of things or property rights within one month of the day the tax obligation arises (Article 17a(1)), not an SD-Z2 report. If someone in the zero group missed the reporting deadline, the deadline for the return is one month from the end of the reporting period (Article 17a(1a)). Form templates and their descriptions are on podatki.gov.pl.

Selling inherited cryptocurrency

A separate question is what happens when an heir sells the crypto. Under the PIT act, a disposal of virtual currency for consideration means exchanging it for legal tender, goods, a service or a property right other than virtual currency, or using it to settle obligations (Article 17(1f)). Income from such a disposal is taxed at 19 percent of the profit (Article 30b(1a)). The profit is the difference between income and deductible costs.

The return is filed on form PIT-38 between 15 February and 30 April of the year after the tax year (podatki.gov.pl, Article 45(1) of the PIT act).

Under Article 22(14) of the PIT act, deductible costs are documented expenses directly incurred to acquire the virtual currency, plus costs of disposing of it. An heir often incurred no acquisition expense at all. The podatki.gov.pl page on selling cryptocurrencies doesn’t mention acquisition by inheritance, and its definition of costs covers acquisition for consideration. How to treat such costs in your case, we can’t settle from the provision alone. Ask a tax adviser before you sell anything, and if in doubt, consider a written individual interpretation.

Moving the crypto to the heir’s wallet after the inheritance isn’t a disposal under Article 17(1f), because it isn’t an exchange for money, goods or a service. That’s our reading of the provision, not an official position, so treat it with care.

Documents to gather

Before you sit down to SD-Z2, collect in one place:

1. The court ruling with a note that it is final, or the notarial certificate of succession with its registration date.
2. The deceased’s identifying details and last address.
3. A note about the inherited crypto: where it is, what kind and roughly how much.
4. A screenshot of the rate on the day the tax obligation arose, and a note of the source.
5. Evidence that you learned of part of the estate later, if that was the case (for example a message, or the date you found the device).

If the crypto is on an exchange, you can see its value and history in the account, but you first have to get access. How that works after the owner’s death is in the guide Crypto on an exchange after the owner dies.

How to prepare before someone dies

Many deadline problems come from the family not knowing the crypto exists. Access instructions for your family, with one sentence on where the wallet is and who to call, let the family file SD-Z2 on time. A will and inheritance matters are handled by a notary or lawyer, and we help describe the technical side: where the device is, how to check that the backup works, what not to do. Prices and scope are on the page For family. For more on how crypto ends up in an estate, see the guide What happens to your bitcoin when you die, and for the overall picture, the pillar Crypto inheritance.

For definitions, see the glossary entries certificate of succession, seed phrase and payable-on-death instruction.

Accurate as of 19 October 2026. The rules described come from the consolidated text of the Polish inheritance and gift tax act (Dz. U. 2026 item 478) and the PIT act (Dz. U. 2026 item 592). This is not legal or tax advice. The deadlines are strict and missing them is costly, so for your own case ask a tax adviser or a notary, ideally before the first month after the ruling becomes final has passed.