[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"advice-en-selling-mobile-apps":3},{"slug":4,"title":5,"excerpt":6,"body":7,"datePublished":8,"dateModified":8},"selling-mobile-apps","Making money on a mobile app: models, taxes and rights","App store, direct sales, in-app ads or selling the whole app: how each model affects VAT, PIT, the choice of PKD code and the rights-transfer contract.","\u003Cp>There are several ways to earn money on a mobile app, and each one has different tax consequences: the customer changes, the place of VAT taxation changes and so does the document that has to be issued. Before publication or negotiations with a buyer, three things are therefore worth settling: the form of business, who is formally the seller towards the user, and who holds the copyright to the code.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Four earning models and their consequences\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Ctable>\u003Cthead>\u003Ctr>\u003Cth>Model\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>Who pays the creator\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>VAT on the creator's side\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>Document\u003C\u002Fth>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Fthead>\u003Ctbody>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>App store (paid downloads, subscriptions, in-app purchases)\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Store operator, usually a company from another EU country\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Service for a foreign taxable person, reverse charge\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Collective invoice for the operator for the settlement period\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Sales via your own site and a payment gateway\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Directly the user, often a consumer\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Electronic service, Polish VAT or the consumer's country VAT (OSS)\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Sales register, invoice on request\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Ads displayed in the app\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Ad network\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Service for a foreign taxable person, reverse charge\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Invoice or self-billing under the agreement with the network\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Sale of the whole app or the rights to it\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Investor, firm, another publisher\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Depends on the buyer: 23% in Poland or reverse charge\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Written rights-transfer contract and invoice\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Ftbody>\u003C\u002Ftable>\u003Cp>The models often combine: a free app with ads can at the same time have a paid ad-free version in the store and a business offer sold directly. Each revenue stream is then documented separately. The settlement with the Apple store is described in a separate article on \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fadvice\u002Fselling-apps-app-store\">selling in the App Store\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>With a firm or without\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>An individual who sells, on a one-off basis, the rights to an app written personally does not have to set up a business. The revenue is then taxed as revenue from property rights under the tax scale. The creator may apply 50% deductible costs, but in total no more than PLN 120,000 of costs per year (Article 22(9)(3) and (9a) of the PIT Act).\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>When the app brings regular revenues from a store, ads or subscriptions, this is organised and continuous for-profit activity, i.e. business activity. For the CEIDG registration the following PKD 2025 codes come in handy:\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cul>\u003Cli>58.29.Z — publishing software other than games, e.g. your own utility app;\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>58.21.Z — publishing games for computers and mobile devices;\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>62.10.B — programming on client's commission (except games);\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>62.10.A — programming games on commission.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003Cp>The form of taxation is chosen with costs in mind. For large spending on advertising, subcontractors and equipment, the tax scale or flat tax (podatek liniowy) can be more advantageous than ryczałt (lump-sum tax on recorded revenue). A creator who develops the app alone should keep from the outset the records needed for the \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fadvice\u002Fip-box-what-is-it\">IP Box relief\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Direct sales to users\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>A subscription bought through your own site is an electronic service. When selling to consumers, the place of its taxation is in principle the country where the consumer lives (Article 28k of the VAT Act). Polish rules, however, set a threshold: as long as the annual value of such services and distance sales to consumers from other EU countries does not exceed EUR 10,000 (PLN 42,000), Polish VAT can be applied. Once the threshold is exceeded, the rates of the consumers' countries apply, and they are settled under the OSS procedure described in the article on \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fadvice\u002Fvat-oss-procedure\">VAT OSS\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>In this model, it is the creator who is responsible for the terms, consumer rights, returns and data protection. The payment gateway charges fees, but the revenue is the full price paid by the customer, and the gateway fee is a cost.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Sale of the whole app — what to watch out for\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>The buyer pays for rights, not for files, so the contract must be prepared carefully:\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Col>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Written form\u003C\u002Fstrong> — a contract transferring economic copyright requires it under pain of nullity (Article 53 of the Copyright Act).\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Fields of exploitation\u003C\u002Fstrong> — the contract covers only the fields expressly listed in it (Article 41(2)). For a computer program, this must include, among others, reproduction, modification and distribution.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Chain of rights\u003C\u002Fstrong> — rights to code written by an employee as part of job duties belong to the employer, unless the contract provides otherwise (Article 74(3)). For B2B co-workers, separate transfer contracts are needed; we discuss them in the article on \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fadvice\u002Fb2b-copyright-transfer\">transfer of copyright under B2B\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Third-party elements\u003C\u002Fstrong> — open-source libraries, stock images and external services have to be described in an annex, because the buyer does not acquire rights to them.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Handover\u003C\u002Fstrong> — repository, keys, store account, domain, user data (with a legal basis under RODO\u002FGDPR) and any post-sale support period.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Fol>\u003Cp>On the tax side, selling rights through a firm is business revenue. When the buyer is a Polish entity, an active VAT payer charges 23% VAT. When the buyer is a foreign company, the service is taxed in the buyer's country and the reverse charge applies.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Example: three revenue streams in one year\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>A female programmer runs a sole proprietorship under the flat tax, is exempt from VAT and has an app for planning workouts.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cul>\u003Cli>Subscriptions in app stores: each month, an invoice for the store operator with the \"reverse charge\" note and an entry in the VAT-UE recapitulative statement. Earlier, registration as a VAT-UE taxpayer was required.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>Packages for fitness clubs sold from her own site to Polish firms: ordinary domestic sales. They count towards the VAT exemption limit, which in 2026 is PLN 240,000.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>At the end of the year, a proposal from a foreign publisher to buy out the app: before signing the contract, she checks whether she has rights-transfer contracts from the graphic designer and from the subcontractor who wrote the payments module.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003Ch2>Most common mistakes\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cul>\u003Cli>Treating revenue from a store as a sale to consumers and charging Polish VAT on retail prices.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>No VAT-UE registration before the first payout from the store operator or ad network.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>Selling the app without rights-transfer contracts from co-creators. The buyer will discover this in legal due diligence and will lower the price or withdraw from the deal.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli>Choosing ryczałt without checking the rate for the specific type of revenue.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003Ch2>How Good Balance can help\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>We advise app creators on the choice of business form and taxation, we tidy up settlements with stores and ad networks, and we prepare \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fservices\u002Flegal\u002Ftax-interpretation\">applications for individual tax interpretations\u003C\u002Fa> when the classification of revenue is uncertain. Before selling an app, we review the chain of rights and the contract as part of a \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fen\u002Fservices\u002Flegal\u002Fconsultation\">legal consultation\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>","2026-10-09"]