Unused Innovative Employees Relief Is Not Necessarily Lost – A Favorable Approach by the Tax Authority

Ulga na innowacyjnych pracowników (dalej: Ulga IP) pozwala podatnikom, którzy nie rozliczyli w pełni ulgi B+R ze względu na poniesioną stratę albo zbyt niski dochód, szybciej wykorzystać pozostałą część przysługującego odliczenia poprzez pomniejszenie zaliczek na PIT, pobieranych od wynagrodzeń osób zaangażowanych w działalność B+R i podlegających przekazaniu do urzędu skarbowego.

In practice, doubts arise when a taxpayer does not apply the available reduction in PIT advances on an ongoing basis. This may result, for example, from the omission of one of the employees meeting the conditions of the IP Relief, or from other organizational or record-keeping reasons. This raises the question of whether the unused IP Relief amount is lost.

Recent individual tax rulings issued by the Director of the National Tax Information confirm a favorable approach, according to which failure to use all or part of the available IP Relief amount in the month for which the right to the reduction arose does not preclude its utilization in a later month.

Latest confirmation of the tax authority’s favorable position

In an individual tax ruling dated June 18, 2026, ref. no. 0114-KDIP2-1.4010.137.2026.2.MR1, the Director of the National Tax Information (KIS) considered the case of an IT company engaged in the development and delivery of advanced IT solutions. The Company conducted R&D activities and had eligible costs for 2023-2025 that remained undeducted because its income had been insufficient to claim them in full. The Company also employed specialists directly involved in R&D activities in respect of whom the conditions for applying the IP Relief were met.

In these circumstances, the Company sought confirmation that, in any subsequent month within the IP Relief application period – but no later than the last month of the same tax year – it could also reduce its PIT advances by an amount that had been available but not utilized for an earlier month.

The Director of KIS found the Company’s position to be correct, but refrained from providing legal reasoning. The ruling therefore provides the latest confirmation of the outcome itself – namely, that if a taxpayer does not apply an IP Relief reduction on an ongoing basis, it may exercise the relevant right in a later eligible month of the same tax year.

Utilization of an unused IP Relief amount in a later month

The Director of KIS set out detailed reasoning for this approach in the individual tax ruling dated October 30, 2025, ref. no. 0114-KDIP2-1.4010.507.2025.1.MR1.

The case concerned a company that filed its CIT-8 return for 2024 in March 2025 and began applying the IP Relief in April. For organizational reasons, in some months the company utilized only part of the available IP Relief amount or did not apply the preference at all. One example involved a situation in which the review of new projects against the criteria for R&D activities could not be completed before the deadline for remitting PIT advances to the tax office. As a result, the Company remitted PIT advances without applying the available reduction or applied it only in part.

The Director of KIS confirmed that Article 18db(4) of the CIT Act specifies the earliest and latest months at which the IP Relief may be utilized. However, this provision does not require the preference to be applied on an ongoing basis in each month. In the tax authority’s view, the relief mechanism applies throughout the period beginning in the month following the month in which the CIT return is filed and ending at the end of that tax year.

At the same time, the Director of KIS noted that Article 18db(1) of the CIT Act, which grants the right to reduce PIT advances, imposes no additional restriction requiring that right to be exercised exclusively in the month for which a given IP Relief amount is available. Consequently, the tax authority concluded that the taxpayer may choose a later month in which to exercise the previously acquired right, provided that both months fall within the statutory IP Relief application period.

Later utilization in practice

It is worth emphasizing that subsequent utilization of an unused IP Relief amount does not involve amending PIT advance calculations for earlier months or applying for a refund of an overpayment. Instead, the taxpayer makes a correspondingly bigger reduction in the current amount of PIT advances payable to the tax office in one of the subsequent months.

Consequently, the economic effect of such a reduction may also extend to part of the PIT advances withheld from employees who are not involved in R&D activities. This does not, however, mean that those employees themselves generate entitlement to the IP Relief. The calculation is based exclusively on PIT advances relating to qualifying R&D employees – both current advances and those relating to earlier months in which the available reduction was not utilized.

Example: The CIT-8 return was filed in March, meaning that the statutory IP Relief application period begins in April and runs until the end of that year. Two employees meeting the IP Relief conditions were omitted from the calculation for May, and the oversight was not identified until August. In such circumstances, there is no need to amend the calculation of PIT advances for May. The taxpayer may apply a correspondingly greater reduction to the current remittance of PIT advances in one of the subsequent eligible months – for example, in September – within the available reduction limit and provided that the calculation is properly documented (cf. the individual tax ruling issued by the Director of KIS on February 11, 2025, ref. no. 0114-KDIP2-1.4010.672.2024.1.MR1).

What does this approach mean for taxpayers?

The ruling dated June 18, 2026, is another – and the latest – confirmation of the favorable line adopted by the Director of KIS, according to which failure to use the full IP Relief amount available in a given month does not necessarily result in the definitive loss of the right to utilize it.

An unused IP Relief amount may be utilized by reducing PIT advances payable to the tax office in a later month. However, both the month for which entitlement to the IP Relief arose and the month in which it is actually utilized must fall within the statutory period for applying this tax preference, i.e., the period beginning in the month following the month in which the CIT-8 return is filed and ending at the end of this tax year.

This line of tax rulings therefore has significant practical implications. Taxpayers that have not utilized the full IP Relief amount available to them should review their previous calculations – it may turn out that failure to use a given amount in the month for which the right to the reduction arose does not prevent its utilization in one of the subsequent months.