Which NBP exchange rate applies when selling foreign stocks?
Under Art. 11a sec. 1 of the Polish PIT Act, foreign currency income is converted to PLN using the average NBP exchange rate from the last business day preceding the income date. The income date is the settlement date of the transaction — not the trade date when you placed the order. If you sold Apple shares on NYSE on Monday, under the T+1 cycle your income date is Tuesday, and the NBP rate is taken from Monday.
What is T+1 and T+2?
T+1 means the transaction settles 1 business day after the trade. T+2 means 2 business days. Weekends are skipped. Example: a Friday sale under T+1 settles on Monday; under T+2 it settles on Tuesday. One day's difference means a different NBP rate, and for large transactions — a noticeable difference in capital gains tax.
Which exchanges use T+1? (transition table)
US (NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX): T+1 from May 28, 2024 — SEC Rule 15c6-1(a). Canada (TSX): T+1 from May 27, 2024 — CSA NI 24-101. Mexico (BMV): T+1 from May 28, 2024. India (BSE, NSE): T+1 from January 27, 2023 — SEBI. Europe (XETRA, Euronext, LSE): still T+2. Japan (TSE): still T+2. Australia (ASX): still T+2. Transactions executed BEFORE these dates were settled under the old T+2 cycle.
How does this affect your PIT-38 tax return?
Example: you sell Tesla shares on NASDAQ on June 3, 2024 (Monday) for 10,000 USD. Under T+1 (US after May 2024): settlement on June 4, NBP rate from June 3 — say 3.95 PLN/USD = 39,500 PLN income. Under T+2 (old cycle): settlement on June 5, NBP rate from June 4 — say 3.97 PLN/USD = 39,700 PLN income. Difference: 200 PLN in income, which at 19% tax means 38 PLN difference. With many transactions per year, these amounts add up.
How to set the settlement cycle in the calculator?
Our calculator offers three options: (1) Exchange settlement cycle (D+1/2) — recommended. Automatically applies T+1 for US/Canada/Mexico/India and T+2 for Europe. The most accurate choice. (2) Standard T+2 — always 2 business days, regardless of exchange. Simpler, but inaccurate for US exchanges after May 2024. (3) Trade date (D+0) — rate from the day before the trade. Suitable for cryptocurrencies and CFDs. You select the option when importing a file or in your profile settings (Tax tab).
What about brokers — Interactive Brokers, Trading212, XTB, Degiro?
Some brokers (Interactive Brokers, Schwab, Fidelity, Degiro) provide the settlement date directly in their CSV export — the calculator automatically uses those dates and does not override them. For brokers without a settlement date (Trading212, eToro, Revolut, XTB), the calculator computes it based on the selected cycle and exchange. Regardless of your broker, you can always change the mode in settings.
Options and futures — always T+1
Options and futures contracts on all exchanges settle on a T+1 cycle, regardless of the selected setting. Cryptocurrencies and CFDs settle immediately (T+0). These rules are applied automatically.
Frequently asked questions
Legal basis
Art. 11a sec. 1 of the Act of July 26, 1991 on Personal Income Tax: "Foreign currency income shall be converted to Polish zloty using the average exchange rate of foreign currencies published by the National Bank of Poland on the last business day preceding the day the income was received."
Changing the settlement mode only applies to newly imported files. To recalculate existing transactions with the new setting, you need to re-import your files.
We recommend using the "Exchange settlement cycle" (D+1/2) mode — it most accurately reflects actual settlement dates on individual markets and aligns with market practice.