In the era of increasing popularization of AI, it is natural that many companies reach for various types of tools whose task is to speed up work. Most of these applications are based on a subscription model. Therefore, when purchasing such tools/services, the question often arises whether withholding tax should be accounted for on their purchase.
At the outset, it should be pointed out, considering the case from the perspective of CIT, that according to Article 26 sec. 1 of the Polish CIT Act, the obligations of the remitter apply only to the revenues listed in Article 21 sec. 1 and Article 22 sec. 1 of the Polish CIT Act. In the case of software subscriptions, Article 21 sec. 1 point 1 of the Polish CIT Act is relevant, covering revenues “from copyright or related rights (…) for the use or right to use an industrial device, including a means of transport, commercial or scientific equipment”, taxed at the rate of 20%, including double taxation treaties.
Therefore, for example, a subscription to the popular “Chat” GPT entitles users to use the tool for their own needs, without the right to reproduce, modify, distribute or sublicense the software. With this in mind, the payment is therefore not a remuneration for the use of copyright in the fields of exploitation referred to in Article 74 sec. 4 of the Polish Act on Copyright and Related Rights.
Such approach was confirmed by the Director of the National Tax Information, inter alia in individual interpretations of 22 July 2024 (file ref. no. 0114-KDIP2-1.4010.285.2024.1.PK), of 4 April 2025 (file ref. no. 0111-KDIB2-1.4010.90.2025.1.DKG) – also concerning AI-based tools made available in the SaaS model – and of 6 May 2025 (file ref. no. 0111-KDIB1-2.4010.29.2025.2.ANK), in which he considered that remuneration for end-user software and access in the SaaS model is not subject to withholding tax.
However, we would like to draw your attention to the divergent practice regarding the concept of “industrial equipment”. The Supreme Administrative Court covers servers made available as part of hosting and cloud services (e.g. judgments of 5 December 2025, file ref. no. II FSK 317/23, and of 5 February 2026, file ref. no. II FSK 1098/25), and the Director of the National Tax Information in an individual interpretation of 20 May 2025 (ref. no. 0111-KDIB1-1.4010.139.2025.2.MF) also considered the fee for software in the SaaS model to be such remuneration.
However, in our opinion, this does not apply to the ChatGPT Business subscription – the subject of the provision is access to the functionality of the tool, billed according to the number of users, and not the provision of server resources. In the event of a different assessment by the authority (in the case of Chat GPT), the Polish-Irish double taxation treaty covers receivables for the use of industrial equipment with the definition of license fees (Article 12 sec. 3 letter a) and limits the tax to 10% (Article 12 sec. 2 letter a), provided that the service provider’s residence is documented with a certificate of residence (Article 26 sec. 1 of the Polish CIT Act).
To sum up, as a rule, the remuneration for subscribing to AI tools based on a subscription model such as ChatGPT should not be subject to withholding tax, and thus it will not be associated with the need to file IFT-2R or CIT-10Z information
