Biznes Fakty
Poland's budget deficit. As of May 2025
As of May, the deficit of the state budget reached just over PLN 108.29 billion, as reported by the Ministry of Finance on Monday. This figure represents 37.5 percent of the total planned for the year.
Based on the Ministry of Finance’s estimates, state budget revenues after May were slightly more than PLN 223.05 billion, with expenditures nearing PLN 331.35 billion. Consequently, the state budget deficit reached just over PLN 108.29 billion, which equates to 37.5 percent of the anticipated total for the year.
The Ministry of Finance indicated that the state budget revenues after May, totaling over PLN 223.05 billion, represent 35.2 percent of the yearly target. Tax revenues from the state budget amounted to PLN 199.6 billion, which is approximately PLN 36.5 billion lower than the figures recorded in the January – May 2024 period (a decrease of 15.5 percent).
Growth in VAT revenues
According to MF data, VAT revenues reached PLN 138.3 billion, reflecting an increase of about PLN 16.2 billion (or 13.3%) compared to the same period last year. Revenues from excise taxes totaled PLN 35.3 billion, showing a rise of roughly PLN 0.6 billion, or 1.6%, year-on-year.
The Ministry of Finance also noted that personal income tax revenues stood at PLN -20 billion, which is approximately PLN 53.0 billion lower than the figures for the January – May 2024 period. However, the Ministry pointed out that this was a result of the reform in local government financing. Without this reform, state budget revenues from personal income tax would have been around PLN 38.6 billion, indicating a 16.9 percent increase year-on-year.
Decline in CIT revenues
CIT revenues by the end of May totaled PLN 36.8 billion, which is about PLN 1.5 billion (3.9 percent) lower than a year prior. The Ministry of Finance explained that without the local government revenue reforms, state budget revenues from CIT would have reached approximately PLN 39.9 billion, representing a 4.2 percent increase.
From January to May 2025, non-tax revenues amounted to PLN 23.1 billion, which is approximately PLN 1.8 billion (7.1%) lower than in the same period of 2024.
„When analyzing the state budget revenue performance related to PIT and CIT in comparison to 2024, it is important to note that the reform of local government financing took effect in 2025, altering the shares of local government units in PIT and CIT. (…) The shares allocated to local government units from PIT revenues from January to May 2025 amounted to PLN 93.4 billion. This is an increase of PLN 63.3 billion (208.3%) compared to the PLN 30.4 billion transferred in the same timeframe last year. For the January-May 2025 period, total revenues from PIT for the public finance sector (state budget and local governments) reached PLN 73.7 billion, which is an increase of PLN 10.3 billion (16.2%) year-on-year,” the Ministry of Finance elaborated in a press release.
The Ministry also mentioned that in May of this year, there were refunds issued for the annual CIT settlement for 2024, with the total amount of refunds being about PLN 0.7 billion (53%) higher than in May 2024.
36 percent of the annual plan
After five months of this year, budget expenditures reached nearly PLN 331.35 billion, which corresponds to 36% of the annual target. The Ministry of Finance reported that as of the end of May, PLN 70.8 billion was allocated to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), PLN 36.9 billion (29.9% of the plan) was spent on national defense, and PLN 24.4 billion (32.3% of the plan) was used for servicing the State Treasury debt. General subsidies for local governments accounted for PLN 24.3 billion (48.3% of the plan), PLN 22.6 billion (48% of the plan) was transferred to voivodeship budgets, and PLN 20 billion (53.6% of the plan) was allocated for healthcare.
According to the Budget Act for 2025, the total budget revenues for the year are projected to be almost PLN 632.85 billion, with expenditures nearing PLN 921.62 billion and a deficit estimated at PLN 288.77 billion.
