[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"advice-en-ad-costs-accounting":3},{"slug":4,"title":5,"excerpt":6,"body":7,"datePublished":8,"dateModified":8},"ad-costs-accounting","Advertising costs in a business: how to book and settle them in 2026","Advertising or representation, branded giveaways, annual subscriptions and campaigns on foreign platforms: how to treat marketing spend in costs and in VAT in 2026.","\u003Cp>Advertising spend is a tax-deductible cost with no cap, provided it serves to acquire or retain clients and is properly documented. Problems arise at the border with representation, with gifts for business partners, with subscriptions paid in advance, and with invoices from foreign platforms that require the buyer to settle VAT. Below we tidy up these situations according to the legal state for 2026.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>When marketing spend reduces the tax\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Under the PIT Act, a cost is an expense that is intended to generate revenue, maintain its source or protect it — unless the Act expressly excludes it. A search engine campaign, a website, a product photo session or sales copy usually meet this condition without discussion.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>Whether the expense will actually reduce the tax depends, however, on the form of taxation:\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cul>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>tax scale and flat tax (podatek liniowy)\u003C\u002Fstrong> — advertising costs reduce income, and therefore the tax and (indirectly) the health contribution,\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>ryczałt (lump-sum tax on recorded revenue)\u003C\u002Fstrong> — tax is calculated on revenue, so marketing spend has no impact on it; it is kept in records only for order and possibly for VAT.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003Cp>A company planning a large advertising budget should take this into account when choosing the form of taxation for the next year. A comparison of forms is included in the article \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fadvice\u002Fwhat-is-the-flat-tax-podatek-liniowy\">on the flat tax\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Advertising vs representation — where the line runs\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>The list of expenses excluded from costs includes representation costs, in particular catering services and the purchase of food and drinks, including alcohol. The provision does not define representation, so in practice the purpose of the expense is what counts:\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ctable>\u003Cthead>\u003Ctr>\u003Cth>Expense\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>Typical classification\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>Comments\u003C\u002Fth>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Fthead>\u003Ctbody>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Paid ads on the internet, press, radio\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>advertising — cost\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>addressed to an undefined circle of recipients\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Leaflets, catalogues, trade-show materials\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>advertising — cost\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>it is worth keeping a sample or a layout\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Small branded giveaways handed out at trade shows\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>usually advertising — cost\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>low value, broad group of recipients\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Dinner with a key business partner\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>representation — outside costs\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>building an image with a specific person\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Expensive gifts for selected clients\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>risk of being treated as representation\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>the higher the value and the narrower the circle, the higher the risk\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Refreshments for participants of an open promotional training\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>disputed — depends on the circumstances\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>documentation of the programme and attendee list helps\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Ftbody>\u003C\u002Ftable>\u003Cp>A practical rule of thumb: activities aimed at a broad, undefined group of recipients are advertising. Spend used to build an image with selected people, especially of an opulent nature, is often treated by tax authorities as representation.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Gifts and giveaways and VAT\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Handing over goods free of charge is generally subject to VAT if VAT was deducted on purchase. The VAT Act excludes gifts of low value and samples transferred for business purposes. Gifts of low value are goods transferred to one person:\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cul>\u003Cli>with a total value of up to PLN 100 net in a tax year — if the company keeps records allowing the identity of the recipients to be established,\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>with a unit purchase price of up to PLN 20 net — where no such records are kept.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003Cp>Example: a company buys 500 branded mugs at PLN 14 net each and hands them out at trade shows without a list of recipients. It stays within the PLN 20 limit, so it deducts VAT from the invoice and does not charge tax on the handover. If it were handing out sets worth PLN 60, it would have to keep named records and watch the PLN 100 limit per person per year in order to avoid taxation.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Subscriptions and tools paid in advance\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Tools for sending newsletters to clients, analytics or graphic design are usually bought on subscription. With monthly billing the matter is simple: each invoice is a cost of the given month. With payment in advance for a year, the rule on indirect costs must be kept in mind: if the expense concerns a period going beyond the tax year and it is not possible to establish what share falls in the given year, it is settled in proportion to the length of that period. For a subscription bought, for example, in October 2026 for 12 months, it is therefore worth agreeing with the accountant what share will go to the costs of 2026 and what to 2027.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>Licences and equipment purchased outright with an initial value above PLN 10,000 are generally subject to depreciation; cheaper items can be charged to costs in one go in the month they are put into use.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Invoices from foreign advertising platforms\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Large advertising platforms and marketing tool providers often issue invoices from a seat in another EU country. If the service provider has no seat or fixed establishment in Poland and the buyer is a Polish company, VAT on such a service is settled by the buyer under the import of services rules. This also applies to entrepreneurs enjoying a turnover-based VAT exemption — they must obtain a VAT-UE number, although this does not cause them to lose the exemption on domestic sales. The details are described in the article \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fadvice\u002Fvat-ue-registration\">on VAT-UE registration\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>With invoices in euro, conversion to zloty at the appropriate rate is also required, which affects the amount of the cost and the output tax.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Documentation that defends the cost during an audit\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Col>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Advertising account set up for the company\u003C\u002Fstrong>, with company data and the tax number, so that invoices are issued to the entrepreneur and not to a private person.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Invoices or receipts\u003C\u002Fstrong> downloaded regularly, preferably monthly, in line with the billing period.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Proof of performance of the service\u003C\u002Fstrong>: graphic layouts, screenshots of campaigns, reach reports, contracts with contractors.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Records of giveaways and gifts\u003C\u002Fstrong> where the value exceeds the PLN 20 per item threshold.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>A description of the purpose\u003C\u002Fstrong> for expenses at the border with representation — e.g. the event programme and the circle of invitees.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Fol>\u003Ch2>How Good Balance can help\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>As part of \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fservices\u002Faccounting\u002Fsimplified-accounting\">simplified accounting\u003C\u002Fa> we classify marketing spend, settle the import of services and keep records of gifts. For companies keeping accounting books we perform the same tasks within \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fservices\u002Faccounting\u002Ffull-accounting\">full accounting\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>","2026-10-09"]