Effectiveness of Tax Incentives Stimulating Innovation of Polish Enterprises: The Case of the Intellectual Property Box (Optimum Economic Studies)

Summary

• Within six years the number of IP Box users grew fourfold and the tax due from it grew fivefold.p.10
• Corporate (CIT) taxpayers made up only 2% of IP Box users in 2024, while the other 98% were individuals.p.10
• Corporate taxpayers account for 51% of IP Box tax due, flat-rate individuals for 47% and progressively taxed individuals for 2%.p.10
• R&D spending in Poland is 1.41% of GDP, well below the EU average of 2.24%.p.11
• Poland introduced the IP Box in 2018 for PIT and CIT taxpayers who create or improve protected intellectual property through R&D.p.8

Key insights

1. Poland's IP Box rate is 5%, compared with 10% in the United Kingdom and 9% in the Netherlands.p.5
2. The highest implied R&D tax subsidy rates are in Portugal at 39%, Poland at 36% and France at 36%.p.4
3. Software authors can use the IP Box without patent registration, which makes the instrument most attractive to individual taxpayers.p.8
4. The number of IP Box users grew fourfold in six years and the tax due fivefold.p.10
5. Poland ranked 39th out of 180 countries in the WIPO Global Innovation Index in 2025.p.11
6. CIT taxpayers bear 90% of R&D spending but show much weaker interest in the IP Box than PIT taxpayers.p.14