How do I handle W-8BEN dividends in PIT-38?

[przemyslawbialon]

How do I handle W-8BEN dividends in PIT-38?

Status: open discussion thread while #51 (automatic W-8BEN offset) is being implemented. Share your setup, ask follow-ups.

The short version

If you receive dividends from US stocks via brokers like Revolut, E*Trade, Interactive Brokers, etc., the tax treatment depends on whether you've submitted a W-8BEN form to the broker:

W-8BEN on file?	US withholds	You owe in Poland
Yes (most Revolut/IB accounts)	15%	4% extra fee (19% − 15%)
No	30%	0% (already over-withheld)

The Polish tax law basis is art. 30a ust. 1 pkt 4 of PIT (flat 19% on dividends) combined with the US-Poland double taxation treaty. The 15%/30% distinction comes from whether the US treats you as a treaty-beneficial foreign person.

What pit-38 does today

Currently, pit38 outputs gross dividend income in PLN (converted via NBP rate from dividend date minus one business day). The tool does not yet automatically compute the 4% or 0% Polish extra fee — see issue #51.

So today your workflow is:

1. Run pit38 stock -f <files> -y <year> — see "Dividends" section
2. If you have W-8BEN: multiply that PLN amount by 0.04 to get your Polish tax owed
3. If no W-8BEN: Polish tax is 0 (but you lost 11% permanently — consider filing W-8BEN with your broker)

Common questions (add yours as a comment!)

Q: I moved countries mid-year. My W-8BEN was for US residency, then changed. What do I do?

A: This is beyond pit-38's scope — consult a tax advisor. Generally, your tax residency on the payment date determines treatment.

Q: Do I need to report withheld US tax separately on PIT-ZG?

A: Yes, technically — the Polish IFT-1 / PIT-ZG forms are relevant. pit-38 focuses on the PIT-38 calculation itself; the PIT-ZG reporting is a separate step. Worth a separate Q&A post if you have specifics.

Q: What about dividends from non-US stocks (European ADRs, Germany, UK)?

A: Different treaties, different withholding rates. See art. 30a sec. 9 (treats foreign withholding as credit up to Polish tax owed). If you have a specific case, please reply to this thread with the broker and country — we'll expand the docs.

How to contribute

• Share your W-8BEN workflow in a reply (what you submit, how often, to which broker)
• Point to issues in pit-38's output that affected your filing
• Ask follow-up questions — maintainers and community will help where we can, with the standard "this is not tax advice" caveat

🔗 Related: TAX_RULES.md, issue #51