A laptop, monitors, phone or home server can be a tax-deductible cost for a developer's business if they are used to earn money for the company. How quickly a given spend reduces tax depends on three things: the price of the equipment (the PLN 10,000 threshold), the form of taxation and the VAT status. Below we explain how these elements work together in 2026, with real numbers.
The starting condition: a link to revenue
The PIT Act does not contain a list of permitted devices. The general rule applies: the expense must aim to generate revenue or to maintain or protect the business as its source, and at the same time must not appear on the list of expenses that the Act expressly excludes from costs. For a developer, the link between computer equipment and work is usually obvious, but the risk of a dispute rises for typically domestic or leisure devices (for example a games console, a large TV in the living room). The easier it is to describe what a given piece of equipment does in your projects, the safer the deduction.
Consistency also matters: two laptops and three monitors for a one-person business can be justified (a workstation at home and at a shared-office desk, plus a test device), but it helps to have arguments on hand, such as a client's requirement for a separate device for its infrastructure.
The PLN 10,000 threshold: expense now or depreciation
Equipment expected to serve for longer than a year and with an initial value above PLN 10,000 must be entered in the fixed-asset register and expensed through depreciation. For a value of up to PLN 10,000 inclusive, the entrepreneur can book the full spend as a cost in the month the device is put into use.
- An active VAT taxpayer compares the net amount against the threshold.
- An entrepreneur exempt from VAT compares the gross amount, because for them VAT is part of the cost.
Initial value is not just the invoice price. It also includes, for example, installation or transport. Items bought together that form a single set (a tower unit with monitor and keyboard) can be a single fixed asset whose value is counted as a whole.
The depreciation rate for computers
Computer sets have an annual rate of 30% in the depreciation-rate list. This means a computer is deducted over a little more than three years. For used equipment, bought for example from another business, an individual rate can be set, but the depreciation period cannot be shorter than 24 months where the initial value does not exceed PLN 25,000.
One-off depreciation
Small taxpayers (prior-year revenue up to the equivalent of EUR 2 million), and businesses in their start-up year, can depreciate in one go fixed assets from classification groups 3–8, which include computer sets, within a combined annual limit of EUR 50,000 in write-offs. This is de minimis aid and must be reported in the relevant documents; businesses starting out face additional restrictions (for example when assets are transferred from an earlier activity).
Worked examples
| Situation | Treatment in PIT |
|---|---|
| Active VAT taxpayer buys a laptop for PLN 9,800 net (PLN 12,054 gross) | PLN 9,800 as a one-off cost; PLN 2,254 of VAT is recoverable |
| The same laptop is bought by an entrepreneur exempt from VAT | PLN 12,054 gross exceeds PLN 10,000: fixed asset, 30% annual depreciation, about PLN 301 per month |
| Active VAT taxpayer buys a workstation for PLN 18,000 net | fixed asset; straight-line PLN 450 per month, or one-off depreciation as a small taxpayer |
| Phone for PLN 4,500 net, used for both business and private purposes | a one-off cost in the part matching business use (for example 70%); the split must be justified in your records |
Small accessories (mice, headphones, cables, chargers, docking stations) are usually ongoing costs. Upgrading a computer that is already a fixed asset calls for a check whether it counts as an improvement: when the sum of such expenses in a year exceeds PLN 10,000, it increases the initial value instead of going straight into costs.
The form of taxation changes everything
- Tax scale and flat tax (podatek liniowy): costs and write-offs lower taxable income. Under the flat tax each PLN 1,000 of costs is PLN 190 less tax (plus a lower health contribution, calculated on income).
- Ryczałt (lump-sum tax on recorded revenue): tax is paid on revenue, so buying equipment does not reduce income tax. An active VAT taxpayer under ryczałt can still, however, deduct the VAT from an invoice for a laptop or monitor.
If equipment purchases are large and regular (for example when running your own test infrastructure), this can be an argument when choosing between ryczałt and the flat tax. Both forms are described in our articles on the flat tax and on ryczałt.
VAT and withdrawal of equipment from the business
An active VAT taxpayer deducts input VAT to the extent that the equipment serves taxable activities. The complication comes later: if the entrepreneur transfers the laptop to personal use or gives it away to a family member, and VAT was deducted on purchase, that transfer is treated as a supply of goods and output VAT must be charged.
In income tax, the mere withdrawal of a fixed asset to private assets does not create revenue. Revenue does arise, however, if the entrepreneur sells the withdrawn equipment before six years have passed from the first day of the month following the withdrawal. A sale of a company computer without prior withdrawal is always business revenue.
Documentation that will come in handy
- An invoice issued to the company with its NIP (from 2026, in many cases via KSeF).
- An entry in the fixed-asset register no later than in the month of putting the item into use, if its value exceeds PLN 10,000.
- A short note on what the equipment is for, especially for devices also used privately.
- For mixed-use equipment: the chosen proportion of business use and how it was arrived at.
How Good Balance can help
As part of our simplified bookkeeping we assess equipment purchases, maintain the fixed-asset register, choose the depreciation method and watch the de minimis aid limits. If you are considering a large purchase, it is worth discussing the timing and treatment with us before the invoice is issued.