Year-End Inventory (Remanent) for 2025 in Polish PKPiR – Duties, Valuation & Tax Risks

Paweł Gorzelec
Dec 31, 2025
3 min read

A year-end inventory count (known in Poland as spis z natury or remanent) is one of the key closing procedures for taxpayers keeping a Polish tax revenue and expense ledger (PKPiR). Many businesses treat it as a routine administrative step, yet in practice it remains one of the most frequently challenged areas during tax checks and audits.

Importantly, the inventory count is not just a compliance formality. It directly affects the taxable income for the year. That is why closing 2025 requires extra care—errors in scope, documentation or valuation may translate into an incorrect tax base, tax arrears and, in serious cases, fiscal penal risks.

Who must prepare a year-end inventory?

Under the Polish PKPiR regulation, taxpayers are required to prepare and record an inventory count at the end of each tax year, meaning as of 31 December 2025.

Important: This obligation applies to all PKPiR taxpayers—regardless of business size or the personal income tax method (e.g., progressive scale or flat tax).

An inventory count is also required during the year in specific situations, such as:

starting a business,
changes in partners,
changes in partners’ profit shares,
losing eligibility for lump-sum taxation,
business liquidation.

Important: If you prepare the inventory as of 31 December 2025, you do not prepare a separate inventory for 1 January 2026—the year-end inventory becomes the opening inventory for the next tax year.

What must be included?

The inventory should cover all current assets, including:

goods for resale,
materials and supplies (primary and auxiliary),
work in progress and semi-finished goods,
finished products,
defects and waste.

In practice, the most common issues arise around “non-obvious” items: goods in transit, items stored outside the company premises, service projects in progress, and stock with reduced market value.

Valuation rules – where mistakes happen most often

1) Goods and materialsThese are valued at the purchase price or acquisition cost. If the market price on the inventory date is lower, you should use the lower market price.

2) Work in progress, semi-finished and finished goodsThese are valued at the cost of production.

Important: In service and construction businesses, the value of unfinished production may not be lower than the cost of direct materials.

Valuation is the most common audit hotspot—especially when businesses “estimate” values, fail to document write-downs, or assume that work in progress does not exist without physical stock.

Service & construction businesses – work in progress still matters

A common misconception in service and construction companies is that “if we don’t have inventory, the year-end remanent is zero.” That is often incorrect.

Unfinished contracts, ongoing projects, stage-based work—these may constitute work in progress that must be included and valued properly. Omitting WIP may understate the closing inventory and taxable income, creating a clear audit risk.

Obsolete or damaged stock – documentation is key

Mistakes also occur when valuing obsolete or damaged items. Lower valuation may be justified, but you need proper evidence: descriptions, photos, internal protocols, sales offers or price lists. Without documentation, tax authorities may challenge the write-down and adjust the taxable base.

Unsold foreign currency values

Unsold foreign currency values included in the inventory are generally valued at the purchase price on the inventory date, and at the year-end date—at purchase prices not higher than the NBP average exchange rate published for the last day of the tax year.

Animal production

Animal production included in the inventory is valued at market prices as of the inventory date, taking into account species, group and weight.

Items outside the company and third-party goods on site

The inventory also covers goods and materials owned by the taxpayer but located outside the business premises on the inventory date, e.g.:

external warehouses,
construction sites,
subcontractors’ premises,
in transit.

Important: Third-party goods stored at the taxpayer’s premises must be listed by quantity, indicating the owner—without valuation.

Formal requirements – what the inventory must contain

The inventory should be prepared carefully, permanently and completely. It should include at least: taxpayer identification data, inventory date, item numbering, item descriptions, units of measure, quantities, unit prices, item values and total value, the clause “Inventory completed at item …”, and signatures of the persons preparing the inventory and the taxpayer/partners.

Valuation deadline & recording in PKPiR

The valuation must be completed no later than 14 days after finishing the physical count.

Important: You may record one total inventory value in PKPiR, provided that a detailed supporting breakdown is prepared and kept for audit purposes.

Why it matters: impact on taxable income

The closing inventory directly affects taxable income for 2025.Overstating it can increase the tax base, while understating it may lead to tax arrears and fiscal penal exposure.