You replaced the roof and want to take advantage of the thermal modernization tax relief? The Minister of Finance: only expenses for insulation indicated in the regulation are deductible
On May 7, 2026, the Minister of Finance and Economy issued a general tax interpretation regarding the deduction of expenses for roof coverings under the thermal modernization tax relief. The Minister ruled that only expenses for roof insulation (thermal insulation) can be deducted, not for the execution of the roof covering (sheathing).
Thermal modernization tax relief and expenses for roof and its insulation. What the regulations say
The interpretation concerns the so-called thermal modernization tax relief, which is regulated in Art. 26h of the Act of July 26, 1991 on Personal Income Tax (PIT Act) and the deduction under this relief of expenses related to roofs (roof coverings and roof insulation).
Under Art. 26h sec. 1 of the PIT Act, a taxpayer who is the owner or co-owner of a single-family residential building has the right to deduct from the tax base, determined in accordance with Art. 26 sec. 1 or Art. 30c sec. 2 (i.e., from income), expenses incurred in the tax year on construction materials, equipment, and services related to the implementation of a thermal modernization project in that building, which will be completed within 3 consecutive years from the end of the tax year in which the first expense was incurred.
Taxpayers who calculate personal income tax according to the tax scale and the uniform 19% tax rate referred to in Art. 30c of the PIT Act are entitled to benefit from the thermal modernization tax relief. Moreover, under Art. 11 sec. 1 of the Act on Lump-Sum Income Tax on Certain Revenues Earned by Individuals, taxpayers calculating tax in the form of a lump sum on recorded revenues may also benefit from the thermal modernization tax relief.
Expenses specified in regulations issued under Art. 26h sec. 10 of the PIT Act are deductible. This provision is a statutory delegation for the minister responsible for construction, planning, and spatial development and housing, in agreement with the minister responsible for climate, the minister responsible for economy, and the minister responsible for public finance, to specify, by regulation, a list of types of construction materials, equipment, and services related to the implementation of thermal modernization projects referred to in Art. 26h sec. 1, taking into account ensuring the improvement of energy efficiency of thermal modernization projects and their impact on air quality improvement.
The list of construction materials, equipment, and services related to the implementation of thermal modernization projects is included in the annex to the Regulation of the Minister of Investment and Development of December 21, 2018 on determining the list of types of construction materials, equipment, and services related to the implementation of thermal modernization projects (hereinafter 'the regulation').
Changes from 2025
The annex to the aforementioned regulation has been amended twice so far – in 2021 and 2024. The most recent amendment, as of December 19, 2024, introduced changes effective from January 1, 2025, that are significant from the perspective of the issue under discussion.
The Minister of Finance and Economy emphasized that in the legal state effective until December 31, 2024, under expenses for construction materials and equipment, item 1 of the aforementioned list included: construction materials used for insulating building partitions, balcony slabs, and foundations, forming part of insulation systems or used for protection against dampness.
And on the list of deductible expenses for services, item 5 included: insulation of building partitions or balcony slabs or foundations.
In contrast, in the legal state effective from January 1, 2025, under expenses for construction materials and equipment, item 1 includes: construction materials used for insulating building partitions, balcony slabs, roofs, and foundations, forming part of insulation systems or used for protection against dampness.
And under expenses for services, item 5 currently includes: insulation of building partitions or balcony slabs or roofs or foundations.
See also:
- [Thermal modernization tax relief 2026 – up to PLN 53,000 deduction for owners of single-family homes. List of deductible expenses and conditions to meet]
- [Thermal modernization tax relief 2026 – spouses can jointly deduct up to PLN 106,000. Which expenses? Do invoices have to be issued to both (wife and husband)?]
- [Tax relief for home insulation (thermal modernization) in PIT and tax exemption. The Minister explained how to understand the regulations]
Divergent interpretations regarding the deduction of roof expenses
The Minister of Finance and Economy noted that despite the unambiguous legal status regarding the impossibility of deducting expenses for the construction of a building partition under this relief, there have been discrepancies as to whether expenses for roof coverings (as expenses for a building partition) can be deducted under the thermal modernization tax relief. In individual interpretations of tax law provisions, two lines of interpretation have emerged so far.
Initially, the Director of the National Tax Information (hereinafter 'DKIS') presented a position confirming the possibility of including expenses incurred for roof replacement in the thermal modernization tax relief. This is found, for example, in individual interpretations of DKIS:
- of May 13, 2024 – no. 0112-KDIL2-1.4011.217.2024.3.JK
- of September 9, 2020 – no. 0113-KDIPT2-2.4011.540.2020.3.EC
- of June 22, 2023 – no. 0112-KDIL2-1.4011.288.2023.2.JK
However, individual interpretations of DKIS:
- no. 0113-KDIPT2-2.4011.231.2024.5.EC of July 11, 2024,
- no. 0113-KDWPT.4011.104.2024.2.MG of August 1, 2024,
- no. 0113-KDIPT2-2.4011.554.2024.3.AKU of September 26, 2024
- present a different position, according to which such an expense cannot be deducted under this tax relief.
For this reason, the Minister of Finance and Economy, considering the principle of trust in the state and the law it establishes as well as the principle of legal certainty and legal security arising from Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, deemed it appropriate to issue a general tax law interpretation, in the mode specified in Art. 14a § 1 point 1 of the Tax Ordinance, which will indicate the correct position.
Expenses for roof and its insulation vs. thermal modernization tax relief. Position of the Minister of Finance and Economy
One of the key conditions for applying the thermal modernization tax relief is incurring an expense on the materials and services listed in the aforementioned list used in the thermal modernization project.
The Minister emphasized that the List of construction materials, equipment, and services related to the implementation of thermal modernization projects included in the annex to the regulation does not allow the deduction of expenses that ultimately have no impact on improving air quality and energy efficiency of buildings.
And this list does not include expenses for construction materials used for roof replacement, nor the service for roof replacement.
Based on section 1 item 1 of the aforementioned annex to the regulation, deduction from the tax base is allowed for construction materials used for insulating building partitions, balcony slabs, roofs, and foundations, forming part of insulation systems or used for protection against dampness.
In the opinion of the Minister of Finance and Economy, this provision directly indicates that it concerns materials used for insulating roofs, simultaneously forming part of an insulation system or used for protection against dampness, not the roof covering or sheathing itself.
The Minister noted that roof sheathing is neither an insulating material (it is not considered such) nor part of an insulation system. It is also not a material used for protection against dampness. Roof covering essentially serves to protect against weather factors, transfer part of the loads, and protect subsequent layers, while appropriate insulating membranes and thermal insulation materials serve protection against dampness.
Further material below the video
In connection with the extension from January 1, 2025, of the scope of section 1 item 1 of the annex to the regulation (and accordingly section 2 item 5), the Minister of Finance and Economy indicated that confirmation that a roof should be identified with a building partition can be found in normative acts issued by the minister responsible for construction.
For example, in the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of March 17, 2009, on the detailed scope and form of the energy audit and part of the renovation audit, templates of audit cards, and the algorithm for assessing the profitability of a thermal modernization project (Journal of Laws No. 43, item 346), where in Annex 1 to this regulation, Table 2 entitled 'Energy audit card of the building' contains a section entitled 'Heat transfer coefficients for building partitions [W/(m2·K)]'. Among building partitions, 'Roof/flat roof/ceiling under unheated attics or above passages' is listed.
Therefore, in the opinion of the Minister of Finance and Economy: the building roof should be considered a building partition referred to in the annex to the regulation in the wording effective until December 31, 2024.
And recognizing that the roof serves as a building partition, the Minister of Finance and Economy stated that expenses incurred by the taxpayer until the end of 2024 for insulating the roof with insulating material that reduces heat loss by transmission entitle the taxpayer to deduct under the thermal modernization tax relief expenses for construction materials and equipment (as well as services) for insulating this building partition.
In the legal state effective from January 1, 2025, construction materials used for insulating roofs are explicitly listed in section 1 item 1 of the list of construction materials and equipment entitling to benefit from the thermal modernization tax relief.
And what if the taxpayer receives an invoice for roof replacement without specifying the insulation itself?
The Minister also answered this question in the discussed interpretation:
'(…) In the case of conducting a thermal modernization project covering both roof replacement and insulation of this building partition, a situation may arise where the contractor who is a VAT taxpayer not benefiting from exemption from this tax issues an invoice covering all materials (equipment) and work. In such a case, it may happen that the invoice includes expenses for materials, equipment, and services that are in the annex to the regulation as well as those that are not included in it. Pursuant to Art. 26h sec. 1 of the PIT Act, only expenses listed in the regulation are deductible under the thermal modernization tax relief. In such a situation, it is necessary to determine the amount of expenses qualifying for the relief, which may result from another document issued by the VAT taxpayer not benefiting from exemption from this tax, on the basis of which the taxpayer who is the investor carrying out the thermal modernization project is able to separate expenses for the implementation of the thermal modernization project entitling to deduction under this tax preference (e.g., a specification of incurred expenses).'
Source: general tax interpretation of the Minister of Finance and Economy of May 7, 2026 – ref. DD3.8203.2.2024.
Source: INFOR
