MDR Regulation in Poland: Mandatory Disclosure Rules Explained (2026 Guide)

Executive Summary

MDR regulation in Poland means mandatory reporting of certain tax arrangements to the Head of the National Revenue Administration (Szef KAS). The Polish rules have applied since 2019 as an implementation of DAC6, but they are broader than the EU minimum because current Polish law also covers many domestic arrangements, not only cross-border ones. For foreign groups operating in Poland, the practical issue is not just whether an arrangement exists, but who must report it, when the deadline starts, and which hallmark category applies.

What Is MDR? Mandatory Disclosure Rules in Poland – Overview

Poland introduced Mandatory Disclosure Rules on 1 January 2019 as part of the implementation of Council Directive (EU) 2018/822, commonly referred to as DAC6. However, the Polish legislator went beyond the EU minimum by extending the regime to certain domestic arrangements, making Polish MDR one of the broadest disclosure frameworks in Europe.

The aim of MDR is to increase tax transparency and help tax authorities identify arrangements that may indicate aggressive tax planning. In practice, the rules are not limited to clearly abusive structures. They may also capture commercially driven transactions if statutory hallmarks are present and, where relevant, the Main Benefit Test is met.

For foreign groups with a Polish subsidiary, branch, or permanent establishment, the most important Polish feature is this: under current law, reporting is not limited to cross-border structures. Purely domestic arrangements may also require MDR analysis.

The legal basis is found in the Polish Tax Ordinance Act (Ordynacja podatkowa), Chapter 11a – Information on tax schemes.

Who Is Obliged to Report? Roles Under Polish MDR

The Polish MDR system uses three main roles: promoter, supporter, and relevant beneficiary.

Promoter

A promoter is generally the person or entity that designs, markets, organizes, or makes available a tax arrangement. In practice, this may include an external tax adviser, law firm, accounting firm, or, depending on the facts, even an intra-group entity such as a holding company or regional finance function providing structuring guidance.

Supporter

A supporter is a person or entity that assists with implementing an arrangement and knows, or should reasonably be expected to know, that the assistance relates to a reportable arrangement. In practice, this may include accountants, legal teams, banks, corporate service providers, finance providers, or implementation teams.

Relevant beneficiary

The relevant beneficiary is usually the taxpayer who implements the arrangement, is prepared to implement it, or benefits from it.

For foreign-owned businesses in Poland, this allocation matters because MDR reporting does not always remain with the adviser. In situations involving professional secrecy, the practical reporting burden may shift to the taxpayer or another intermediary. This is one reason why taxpayers and non-privileged intermediaries should not assume that an external adviser will necessarily file the report for them.

Internal MDR Procedure – When Is It Mandatory?

Under the current Polish framework, an internal MDR procedure may be required where a promoter is a legal entity, or employs persons acting as promoters, and the statutory revenue or cost threshold is exceeded in the previous tax year.

The key threshold commonly referenced in practice is PLN 8 million.

A practical MDR procedure should include at least the following:

1. A method for identifying potentially reportable arrangements.
2. Clear internal responsibility lines between tax, finance, legal, and management.
3. Rules for escalation and internal information flow.
4. Documentation and evidence retention standards.
5. Employee training for teams involved in structuring, approving, or implementing transactions.
6. Periodic internal review or audit of MDR classifications.
7. Controls for monitoring deadlines, NSP numbers, and follow-up disclosures.

The sanctions are serious up to PLN 2,000,000 for failure to implement a required internal procedure and up to PLN 10,000,000 in aggravated cases linked to individual fault.

What Makes a Tax Arrangement Reportable? Hallmarks

Under Polish MDR, reportability depends on whether an arrangement has one or more statutory hallmarks. In many cases, the arrangement must also satisfy the Main Benefit Test. That means the analysis is never purely formal. You need to assess the legal hallmark, the business purpose of the transaction, and the reporting role of the parties involved.

In practice, MDR analysis should be triggered early for:

• restructurings,
• intra-group financing,
• loss-related transactions,
• intellectual property transfers,
• cross-border payments,
• transactions involving low-tax jurisdictions,
• repeated or standardized implementation models.

The Main Benefit Test (MBT)

The Main Benefit Test broadly asks whether obtaining a tax benefit was the main benefit, or one of the main benefits, that could reasonably be expected from the arrangement, taking into account all relevant facts and circumstances.

MBT is framed through three cumulative elements:

1. a tax benefit exists or is expected,
2. that tax benefit is the main benefit or one of the main benefits of the arrangement,
3. a reasonable alternative course of action would not explain the structure equally well from a non-tax perspective.

This framing is useful for practical screening, but the final publication version should follow the statutory wording as closely as possible.

In practice, not every tax-efficient transaction is reportable. For example, a restructuring that also improves the tax position is not automatically reportable if its real commercial drivers are operational simplification, governance alignment, or business integration. The key question is whether the tax outcome was central to the decision rather than incidental to it.

Generic Hallmarks (with Main Benefit Test)

Generic hallmarks generally require the Main Benefit Test to be met before the arrangement becomes reportable.

Practical examples:

• standardized documentation or structure made available to more than one taxpayer,
• acquisition of a loss-making company to use its tax losses,
• reclassification of income or payments into a more favorably taxed or exempt category,
• circular cash flows routed through intermediaries with little or no economic function,
• certain low-tax related-party payment structures.

Specific Hallmarks (No MBT Required)

Certain specific hallmarks can trigger reporting without the Main Benefit Test, subject to the exact statutory category and factual circumstances.

Common examples include:

• depreciation of the same asset in two jurisdictions,
• double tax relief or a similar double tax benefit linked to the same income or payment,
• transfer of hard-to-value intangibles,
• transfer of functions, assets, or risks that results in a projected EBIT decrease of more than 50% in the transferor over the relevant period.

These cases often overlap with transfer pricing analysis. For multinational groups, MDR and transfer pricing should therefore be reviewed together rather than treated as separate compliance silos.

Other Specific Hallmarks – Financial Thresholds

Polish MDR also includes threshold-based elements that may become relevant in selected hallmark analyses and procedural consequences.

Domestic vs. Cross-Border Schemes – Key Differences

Poland’s MDR framework differs from the standard DAC6 model because current Polish law covers both domestic and cross-border schemes.

For foreign groups, this distinction is critical. A transaction that might fall outside DAC6 in another EU country may still require MDR review in Poland if it has a domestic Polish angle.

Reporting Deadlines and Procedure

MDR deadlines in Poland are formal and short. Businesses should not wait until tax return season to analyse a transaction.

NSP number

Once a report is accepted, the Head of the National Revenue Administration may assign an NSP number (Numer Schematu Podatkowego). In practice, the promoter may report first, while the beneficiary may later need to refer to the NSP in annual tax reporting or related formal disclosures.

The brief also assumes a planned 2026 simplification under which a new NSP would not need to be issued if the same arrangement had already been registered by another reporting party.

MDR Reform 2026 – What’s Changing and When

In February 2026 a draft amendment (UD 196) has been published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre.

It may significantly affect future MDR obligations. The changes are expected to enter into force on 1 October 2026.

Reported reform roadmap

1. Professional advisers and professional secrecy

One reported reform direction is that professional advisers bound by legal professional privilege would move away from direct reporting in protected cases and instead notify the client or another relevant party of the reporting obligation. If enacted, that would further shift practical responsibility to taxpayers and non-privileged intermediaries.

2. Domestic schemes

This is the most commercially important reported change. If enacted, the narrowing or removal of domestic scheme reporting would significantly reduce the practical volume of Polish MDR filings and align the regime more closely with the DAC6 minimum standard.

3. Reduced penalties

The brief assumes a reduction of maximum criminal-fiscal exposure from 720 daily rates to 240 daily rates.

4. Simpler NSP mechanics

A reported reform direction is to remove duplication where several parties are involved in the same arrangement and one party has already obtained registration. Again, this requires confirmation in the enacted legislation.

5. Alignment with case law and DAC8

The reform direction is also described as reflecting EU and domestic case law, including CJEU Case C-694/20 on legal professional privilege under DAC6, and broader tax transparency developments.

MDR Compliance Checklist for Foreign Companies in Poland

Foreign groups with Polish operations should treat MDR as part of their tax governance framework, not as a one-off filing issue.

1. Check whether your Polish entity may fall within the internal MDR procedure rules, including the PLN 8 million revenue or cost threshold.
2. Identify your role in each arrangement: promoter, supporter, or relevant beneficiary.
3. Review restructurings, financing, IP, loss-related transactions, and cross-border payments for hallmarks.
4. Apply the Main Benefit Test where required and document the commercial rationale.
5. Implement or update your MDR procedure based on the rules currently in force and any confirmed legislative changes.
6. Confirm whether external advisers will report directly or only notify the client due to professional secrecy constraints.
7. Link MDR screening with transfer pricing reviews, especially for intra-group transactions.
8. Review transactions involving jurisdictions associated with harmful tax competition or very low taxation.
9. Track whether an NSP number has been assigned and whether it must be disclosed in subsequent filings.
10. Ensure retention of MDR documentation for the applicable statutory period and verify whether the final publication version should refer to a minimum five-year retention rule.

A practical governance point for CFOs: assign one internal MDR owner, but require input from tax, legal, finance, and business teams. Most failures happen because relevant facts are spread across departments.

Penalties for Non-Compliance with MDR in Poland

Even if the reform reduces sanctions, MDR will remain a sanctions-heavy regime in practice.

The practical conclusion is simple: even if penalties are lowered, Poland is likely to remain strict in MDR compliance. The safest defence is a documented internal procedure, clear allocation of responsibilities, and written evidence showing why a transaction was or was not considered reportable.

FAQ

What is MDR regulation in Poland?

MDR regulation in Poland is the obligation to report certain tax arrangements to the Head of the National Revenue Administration (Szef KAS). It has applied since 2019 as a broadened Polish implementation of DAC6 and, under current law, covers both cross-border and selected domestic schemes.

Who must report tax schemes under MDR in Poland?

Depending on the facts, the reporting obligation may fall on a promoter, supporter, or relevant beneficiary. In practice, professional secrecy may shift the reporting burden away from some advisers and toward taxpayers or other intermediaries.

What is the penalty for not reporting a tax scheme in Poland?

Penalties can include criminal-fiscal exposure for individuals and significant financial consequences related to missing internal MDR procedures.

How is Poland’s MDR different from the EU DAC6 directive?

The main difference is that current Polish law goes beyond DAC6 by covering certain domestic tax arrangements, not only cross-border ones. This has made the Polish regime broader than the EU minimum.

What are the MDR changes in Poland from 2026?

Reported reform directions include possible narrowing of domestic scheme reporting, reduced penalties, simplified NSP handling, and further alignment with legal professional privilege case law.

Do tax advisers still have to report MDR in Poland?

That depends on the facts, the type of intermediary, and the role of professional secrecy. The reported 2026 reform direction suggests a stronger shift from adviser reporting to client notification in protected cases.

Conclusion

Poland’s MDR regime remains one of the most demanding disclosure systems in Europe because current Polish law goes beyond DAC6 and may capture a wide range of domestic and cross-border arrangements. For foreign companies, the main challenge is not only understanding the rules, but also building a workflow that identifies hallmarks early, allocates reporting responsibility correctly, and preserves defensible documentation.

In February 2026 a draft amendment (UD 196) has been published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre, and it may significantly affect future MDR obligations. Under the current draft bill, the changes are expected to enter into force on 1 October 2026.

If legislative change is confirmed in 2026, businesses should update their MDR process promptly. Until then, compliance should be based on the rules currently in force, with reform-related assumptions.

Useful links

1. Government draft bill amending the Act affecting future MDR obligations https://www.podatki.gov.pl/mdr/
2. Official information regarding Reporting of tax schemes (MDR) https://www.sejm.gov.pl/sejm10.nsf/druk.xsp?nr=2287

Need support with MDR in Poland? Contact Intertax for a practical review of reporting obligations, internal MDR procedure requirements, and cross-border compliance readiness.