Rain tax

Rain tax – what is it?

The rain tax, according to the legislator, is a type of fee for lost retention. This type of levy also exists in other countries, for example in Germany and Sweden. It is also often referred to as a concrete or concreting tax, as it is the amount of developed land that determines whether or not the charge will have to be paid.

What are the rain tax rates?

In Poland, the rain tax has existed since January 2018 and has been introduced on the basis of the Water Law Act. The rate of this tax depends primarily on the built-up area and is determined by multiplication:

• of the unit rate of the charge
• and the number of square metres of biological surface area lost
• and number of years.

At the beginning of 2022, the Water Act is to be amended, thus making it mandatory for many more households and companies to pay this additional tax.

Learn more: Changes to rain tax as of 1 January 2022

Initially, owners of properties with an area of more than 3 500 m2 were required to pay the tax if more than 70% of them were built-up. The draft bill provides for a tightening of these requirements:

• a reduction to 600 m2 of the total area limit
• changing the percentage building ratio to 50%.

Built-up area is defined as the construction of a house or a garage, as well as the construction of a terrace or a car park, or even covering a biologically active area (land) with paving stones.

Rain tax - how can we help?

More and more companies will have to pay this levy as a result of the changes planned for the so-called rain tax. It will be necessary to verify the requirement to pay the rain tax, including, among other things, measurements of the area and a site development plan with a calculation of individual surface groups.

Rain tax – the scope of services:

• Verification of tax liability - in cooperation with a surveyor, we provide support in determining the totals of the various area groups and verifying whether the tax needs to be paid.
• Support in drawing up and submitting declarations - if the obligation to pay this fee arises, it will be important to submit a relevant declaration to the municipal authority within which the land on which the tax is based is located. Such a document should be submitted within 30 days from the day on which the end day of each quarter expires.