An industry trade fair, a multi-day deployment at a client's premises in another city, a professional training course — a sole trader travels just as often as a large company. The difference is that an entrepreneur does not issue themselves a travel order and does not pay themselves a travel allowance the way an employer pays an employee. They can, however, treat the value of per diem allowances as tax-deductible costs and, alongside them, account for the actual expenses of accommodation, transport or event fees. Below we explain how to do this correctly in 2026.
When an entrepreneur's trip counts as a business trip
The Polish Personal Income Tax Act does not contain a separate definition of an entrepreneur's business trip. In practice, the tax authorities take the view that it means a journey outside the locality in which the company's registered office or fixed place of business is located, undertaken for a purpose directly connected with the business. The trip must be task-related and incidental — serving a specific goal: signing a contract, an installation at a client's site, attending a conference.
This distinction matters in practice. If an entrepreneur commutes every day to the same contractor and actually provides services there, that location is usually treated as a fixed place of business, and travel to it is not a business trip. There is no obligation to issue yourself a formal travel order, but it is worth keeping evidence of the purpose of the journey: an invitation, a training registration confirmation, correspondence with the client, an acceptance protocol.
The domestic per diem in 2026 — how much it is and how to calculate it
The per diem for a domestic business trip amounts to PLN 45 per day. This rate has applied since 1 January 2023 and, at the time this article was prepared, had not changed. The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy is working on a draft regulation raising the domestic per diem to PLN 60, but until the new provisions enter into force the allowance is settled at the existing amount. The topic is worth following, because the change will also affect the flat-rate amounts calculated as a percentage of the per diem.
The calculation rules are the same as for employees. If the trip lasts no longer than one day, no per diem is due for less than 8 hours, half the per diem is due for 8 to 12 hours, and the full amount for more than 12 hours. If the trip lasts longer than a day, the full per diem is due for each complete day, and for a commenced but incomplete day either half the per diem (up to 8 hours) or the full amount (over 8 hours). If free full-board meals were provided during the trip, no per diem is due; individual meals provided reduce it proportionally.
The basis for deducting the per diem is Article 23(1)(52) of the Personal Income Tax Act. That provision excludes from deductible costs the value of per diems of the entrepreneur and persons cooperating with them only to the extent that it exceeds the limit applicable to employees — which means the per diem at the statutory rate is deductible. On the other hand, actual restaurant bills incurred during the trip cannot be deducted instead of the per diem. These are alternatives, not complements.
Accommodation, transport and other expenses
Alongside the per diem, the entrepreneur accounts for actually incurred and properly documented travel expenses — under the general rules of Article 22(1) of the Personal Income Tax Act. Deductible costs therefore include rail and air tickets, fuel, motorway tolls and parking fees, the hotel invoice, the registration fee for a trade fair, or the cost of shipping equipment to the site.
An important difference from employee settlements concerns flat-rate amounts. An employee who does not produce an accommodation bill is entitled to a flat rate of 150 % of the per diem, and to a flat rate of 20 % of the per diem for local public transport for each commenced day. For an entrepreneur settling their own trip, these flat rates do not replace documentation — the basis for deducting the expense remains an invoice or another document meeting the requirements of the rules on the tax book of revenue and expenses.
VAT must also be borne in mind. As a rule, no input tax deduction is available on the purchase of accommodation and catering services (Article 88(1)(4) of the VAT Act), so the gross amount of the hotel invoice is booked as a cost. For tickets, fuel or road tolls, VAT is deducted under the general rules, subject to the 50 % limit for passenger cars used for mixed purposes.
Trips abroad
For a trip abroad, the amount of the per diem and the accommodation limit depend on the destination country — the rates are set out in the annex to the regulation on business travel entitlements, separately for each country and usually in foreign currency. The duration of a foreign trip is generally counted from crossing the state border on the outbound journey until crossing it on the return journey and, for air travel, from take-off to landing.
The proportions differ from domestic travel. For an incomplete day of up to 8 hours, one third of the per diem is due; from 8 to 12 hours, half; and above 12 hours, the full per diem. For each complete day, the per diem set for the given country applies. Foreign-currency amounts are converted into zloty under the tax rules, that is at the average exchange rate of the National Bank of Poland (NBP) from the last business day preceding the day the cost was incurred.
How to document the per diem in the books
A per diem is not an expense that can be evidenced by an invoice, so the basis for the entry in the tax book of revenue and expenses is an internal document. It should include the entrepreneur's name, the purpose of the trip, the name of the destination locality, the number of hours and days, the per diem rate and the calculated amount. It is worth attaching tickets, a confirmation of attendance or a short note describing the course of the trip — in the event of an audit, this is what makes the link between the journey and the revenue credible.
The form of taxation must be taken into account. Per diems and other travel costs are deductible for entrepreneurs taxed under the tax scale and under the flat 19 % tax. Under the lump-sum tax on registered revenue (ryczałt), costs are not deducted at all, so a per diem has no tax effect — which does not release you from the obligation to hold documents evidencing expenses for VAT purposes.
The most common mistakes
Four situations recur in practice. The first is double-counting meals — a per diem together with restaurant bills. The second is treating daily commutes to a single, fixed contractor as business trips. The third is an internal document with no description of the purpose of the trip, which makes the link with revenue hard to demonstrate. The fourth is deducting VAT from a hotel or catering invoice despite the statutory prohibition. Each of these mistakes is easy to correct if spotted at the bookkeeping stage rather than years later.