Trading in cars and brokering their sale are two different business models that Polish tax law treats quite differently. A dealer buys the car for ownership and resells it — settles VAT, most often under the margin procedure, and when bringing a car in from the EU pays excise. A broker does not take ownership, only matches the parties for a commission. On this choice depend the PKD codes, the possibility of VAT exemption and the ryczałt rate.
Trading or brokerage — distinction at the start
| Feature | Car trading | Brokerage |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership of the car | passes to the entrepreneur | remains with the seller |
| Revenue | the full sale price | commission |
| PKD 2025 code (retail) | 47.81.Z | 47.92.Z |
| PKD 2025 code (wholesale) | 46.71.Z | 46.18.Z |
| Risk | car in stock, warranty towards the buyer | responsibility for the reliability of the service |
In PKD 2025, retail sale of new and used passenger cars is subclass 47.81.Z, and wholesale — 46.71.Z. Matching parties for a commission without taking ownership is classified as brokerage in specialised retail (47.92.Z) or activity of agents in wholesale trade (46.18.Z). Sale of parts and accessories has separate codes: 47.82.Z (retail) and 46.72.Z (wholesale). More on choosing codes is in our article how to choose PKD codes.
VAT in car trading
VAT exemption is usually not an option
The turnover-based exemption limit in 2026 is PLN 240,000, but a passenger car dealer usually cannot use it. The VAT Act excludes exemption for supplies of excise goods — and passenger cars are excise products. The exception concerns only cars that the entrepreneur held as fixed assets, not as trade goods. The exemption also does not apply to supplies of new means of transport and parts and accessories for motor vehicles. In practice, a dealer registers as an active VAT payer before the first sale.
Margin procedure for used cars
On resale of second-hand goods purchased earlier for further sale, the tax base may be the margin — the difference between the sale price and the purchase price, less the tax. VAT of 23% is therefore paid only on the mark-up, not on the whole price. The procedure works well on purchases from private individuals and from entities that did not show VAT on the sale; on a purchase with an invoice carrying full VAT, the dealer settles under general rules and deducts input VAT.
Example: a car bought from a private individual for PLN 40,000 and sold for PLN 46,150 gives a gross margin of PLN 6,150. The VAT contained in the margin is 6,150 × 23/123 = PLN 1,150, not 23% of the full price.
Cars imported from the EU
A purchase of a car from a dealer in another EU country is an intra-Community acquisition of goods — it requires VAT-UE registration and VAT settlement in Poland. If the German seller used the margin procedure, the Polish dealer buys the car "on the margin" and may resell it under this procedure.
Excise on passenger cars
A passenger car brought to Poland and not previously registered in the country is subject to excise. The rates are:
- 3.1% of the base — cars with engine capacity up to 2000 cm³,
- 18.6% of the base — cars with capacity over 2000 cm³,
- 1.55% — hybrids without charging from an external source with capacity up to 2000 cm³ (plug-in hybrids of this capacity are exempt from excise until 31 December 2029),
- 9.3% — hybrids (including plug-in) with capacity over 2000 up to 3500 cm³.
Excise is a purchase cost and must be included in the price calculation. In a fleet of imported cars, the difference between the 3.1% and the 18.6% rate can decide the profitability of a particular model.
Income tax: ryczałt and its traps
- Car trading — on ryczałt 3% of revenue. Since revenue is the full price of the car, at low margins ryczałt can be more expensive than flat tax (19%) or the scale (12% and 32%) calculated on income.
- Brokerage — revenue is the commission; brokerage in wholesale (PKWiU group 46.1) has a rate of 15%, and other brokerage types must be assigned according to PKWiU, preferably confirmed in a ruling.
- Parts and accessories — their sale is excluded from ryczałt. The first revenue from such a sale means losing the right to ryczałt for the rest of the year. That is why a dealer on ryczałt should not "throw in" a set of tyres with a car as a separate sale.
The rate details are described in our article on ryczałt on recorded revenue.
Cash register
Supplies of parts and accessories for motor vehicles and services of vehicle repair and tyre replacement must be recorded on a cash register from the first sale to a private person, regardless of turnover. For the sale of cars themselves to private persons, the exemption limit from the cash register (PLN 20,000 per year) is usually exceeded on the first transaction, so a cash register must be planned from the start.
Launching the business step by step
- Choice of model: trading on your own account, brokerage or a combination of both with a clear separation of contracts.
- Registration of JDG or a company with codes 47.81.Z and/or 47.92.Z and possibly 47.82.Z for parts.
- Filing VAT-R as an active payer and for VAT-UE for purchases abroad.
- Choice of form of taxation after calculating the margin — taking into account the ryczałt exclusion for parts.
- Online cash register before the first sale to a consumer, if relevant.
- Template sales and brokerage contracts and a register of cars under the margin procedure.
Most common mistakes in the industry
- Selling passenger cars under VAT exemption up to PLN 240,000 — despite the statutory exclusion for excise goods.
- Applying the margin procedure to a car bought with an invoice carrying full VAT.
- Combining brokerage and resale in one contract, so that it is unclear whether the revenue is the commission or the full price.
- Omitting excise in the price calculation of a car brought from another EU country.
How Good Balance can help
As part of support for sole proprietorships, we register the firm with the correct codes, help choose the form of taxation and settle VAT under the margin procedure and intra-Community acquisitions. We keep dealers' and brokers' ongoing records as part of simplified accounting.