Rules for calculating income in a student's family

1. In order to calculate the amount of income in a student's family, all taxable income is added up
   as well as non-taxable income received by the student and members of the student's family in the calendar year (base year) preceding the academic year for which the student applies for material aid benefits, provided that at the time of submitting the application the income of the student's family has not changed in relation to the base year (loss or gain of income);
2. The amount of income per person in the student's family is calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 28 November 2003 on Family Benefits taking into account the changes resulting from the Law on Higher Education and Science Act of 03 July 2018;
3. The term income means – after deducting the amounts of alimony provided to other persons. These are:
   1. income taxable on a general basis under the provisions of income tax Art. 27, 30b, 30c, 30e, and 30f:

- Art. 27 – the so-called tax scale;

- Art. 30b - income from the disposal of securities or derivative financial instruments against payment, including the exercise of rights arising from such instruments, from the disposal of shares against payment, and from the acquisition of shares for a contribution in kind in a form other than an enterprise or an organised part thereof;

- Art. 30c – income from non-agricultural economic activity or special agricultural production activities obtained by the taxpayers referred to in Art. 9a section 2 or 7 of the Act;

- Art. 30e – income from the disposal against payment of real estate and rights referred to in Art. 10 section 1 point 8(a-c) of the Act;

- Art. 30f – income from a foreign controlled company obtained by a taxpayer referred to in Art. 3 section 1 of the Act of 26 July 1991 on Income Tax on Natural Persons, reduced by deductible costs, due income tax on natural persons, paid social insurance premiums not included in deductible costs, and paid health insurance premiums;

2. income from activities subject to taxation on the basis of the provisions on flat-rate income tax on certain incomes earned by natural persons;
3. other income not subject to taxation under the provisions on personal income tax, indicated
   in Article 3 point 1(c) of the Act of 28 November 2003 on family benefits, subject to section 2;

OBLIGATION FOR INCOME PER FAMILY MEMBER BETWEEN PLN 0 AND 600

4. The Scholarship Committee or Scholarship Appeal Committee refuses to grant a social scholarship to a student whose monthly income per person in the family does not exceed PLN 600 if the application for a social scholarship does not include a certificate issued by a social assistance centre or social services centre confirming that the student or members of the student's family have used social assistance benefits in the year of submitting the application.
5. This certificate must contain information up to date in the current year, so that it can contribute to clarifying the case and thus constitute evidence within the meaning of the provisions the Code of Administrative Procedure.
6. The obligation to submit a certificate also applies to foreigners who can apply for a social scholarship.
7. If the applicant does not include such a certificate, the scholarship committee or the scholarship appeal committee is obliged to refuse to grant the student a social scholarship.
8. The Scholarship Committee or the Scholarship Appeal Committee may grant a social scholarship to a student in the event that the student or the members of his/her family are not taking advantage of social assistance benefits, if the student has convincingly described and documented sources of family maintenance.
9. If the Scholarship Committee decides that the student has not documented the family's sources of support in a reliable and complete manner it will refuse granting the scholarship.

TAXABLE INCOME:

11. Every member of the student's family who has reached the age of 18 is obliged to submit a separate certificate of income from the Tax Office or a statement - attachment no. 10 (also applies to persons who have the right to joint taxation) but if the person concerned has not received any income, the certificate (statement) should contain information about the annual income as 0 (zero);
12. Net income constitutes the difference between revenue and the costs of obtaining it, i.e. gross taxable income reduced by income tax due, paid social security contributions that are not deductible expenses and pad health insurance premiums.
13. We deduct the 9% health insurance premium paid in the year from which we accept the income for calculation, rather than the premium due for that year, from the taxable income earned in the base year running up to the date of application for material assistance;
14. Lost income, is considered lost income as defined in Article 3 point 23 of the Act of 28 November 2003 on family benefits, according to the above provision loss of income means - loss of income caused by:
15. acquiring the right to parental leave,
16. loss of unemployment benefit or compensation,
17. loss of employment or other gainful activity,
18. loss of pre-retirement benefit or pre-retirement support, teacher's compensation benefit, as well as a pension, survivor's pension, social pension, parental supplementary benefit referred to in the Act of 31 January 2019 on the parental supplementary benefit or the cash benefit granted under the rules set out in the Act of 8 February 2023 on the cash benefit due to family members of officers or professional soldiers whose death occurred in connection with the service or undertaking off-duty activities to save human life or health or property
19. deletion from the register of non-agricultural economic activity or suspension of its performance within the meaning Art. 16b of the Act of 20 December 1990 on social insurance of farmers or Art. 36aa section 1 of the Act of 13 October 1998 on the social insurance system,
20. loss of sickness benefit, rehabilitation benefit, or maternity benefit due after the loss of employment or other gainful work,
21. loss of ordered alimony benefits due to the death of the person obliged to provide such benefits or the loss of financial benefits paid in case of ineffective enforcement of alimony payments due to the death of the person obliged to provide the alimony benefit;
22. loss of parental benefit,
23. loss of the maternity benefit referred to in the legislation on social insurance for farmers,
24. loss of a doctoral scholarship as defined in Art. 209 section 1 & 7 of the Act of 20 July 2018 - Law on higher education and science;

15. Income obtained, is considered to be income lost as defined in Article 3 point 24 of the Act of 28 November 2003 on family benefits, in accordance with the above provision, obtaining income means - it means obtaining income caused by:

1. ending parental leave,
2. obtaining unemployment benefits or scholarships,
3. obtaining employment or other gainful work,
4. obtaining pre-retirement benefit or pre-retirement support, teacher's compensation benefit, as well as a pension, survivor's pension, social pension, parental supplementary benefit referred to in the Act of 31 January 2019 on the parental supplementary benefit or the cash benefit granted under the rules set out in the Act of 8 February 2023 on the cash benefit due to family members of officers or professional soldiers whose death occurred in connection with the service or undertaking off-duty activities to save human life or health or property
5. starting non-agricultural economic activity or resuming it after a period of suspension within the meaning Art. 16b of the Act of 20 December 1990 on social insurance of farmers or Art. 36aa section 1 of the Act of 13 October 1998 on the social insurance system,
6. obtaining sickness benefit, rehabilitation benefit, or maternity benefit following the loss of employment or other gainful work,
7. obtaining parental benefit,
8. obtaining maternity benefit referred to in the provisions on social insurance for farmers,
9. obtaining a doctoral scholarship as defined in Art. 209 section 1 & 7 of the Act of 20 July 2018 - Law on higher education and science;

The catalogue of situations involving loss or gain of income is closed. This means that the legislative system prevents it from being extended to include other fortuitous events at will;

The concept of income, defined in the provision of Art. 3 point 1 of the Family Benefits Act, when juxtaposed with the provisions of the Act on Personal Income Tax, does not allow for the exclusion of an anniversary award from income.

16. Being on unpaid leave or maternity leave does not constitute a loss of income;
17. The provisions on the loss and gain of income are not applied to income from employment or other gainful work and income from deregistration or commencement of non-agricultural economic activity if the student or a member of the student's family has lost income due to these and, within 3 months from the date of the loss of income, has gained income from the same employer or ordering party commissioner of works or has commenced work restarted non-agricultural economic activity. In the case of granting a social scholarship after taking into account loss of income from employment or other gainful employment or income from non-agricultural economic activity, after 3 months, counting from the date of loss of income, the established right to the scholarship is verified (Attachment 7);
18. In the event of a loss of income by a family member, student, or a child under the care of a legal guardian
    in the calendar year preceding the academic year for which the benefit is to be granted or after that year, income lost shall not be taken into account in determining their income (Art.5 section4 of the Act on Family Benefits);
19. If a student or a member of his/her family up to the age of 26 , took advantage of tax exemption in the base year under Art. 21 sec. 1 point 148 of the Act on Personal Income Tax and this income does not last at the time of submitting the application for the benefit, on the basis of submitted documents (certificate from the Tax Office, PIT-11, PIT-36) when determining the income of the family, lost income is not taken into account (Art.5 section4 of the Act on Family Benefits);
20. If the certificate (statement) states the total amount of income that was earned in the last calendar year and was subsequently lost in the current year, the annual amount of lost income earned in the last calendar year must be deducted from the family's annual income before the scholarship application is submitted;
21. Loss of income by a student or a family member is documented by a certificate from a relevant institution, e.g. certificate of employment, PIT-11 issued by the former employer, termination of employment contract, or other document confirming the fact of income loss. Depending on the type of received income, the certificate or statement should include all income components which are indicated on the template documents;
22. In the case of obtaining income by the student or a member of the student's family, in the calendar year from which the income constitutes the basis for calculation, the income obtained in that year is divided by the actual number of months in which the income was obtained, if it is obtained in the period for which the right to the benefit is established.
23. If a student or a member of his/her family up to the age of 26 , took advantage of tax exemption in the base year under Art. 21 sec. 1 point 148 of the Act on Personal Income Tax Act and this income lasts at the time of the application for the benefit, on the basis of the submitted documents (certificate from the Tax Office, PIT-11, PIT-36) we add it to the family income and calculate it according to the rules described in point 22;
24. In the event that the student or a member of the student's family obtains income, after the year from which the income constitutes the basis for calculation, their income is established on the basis of the family income increased by the amount of the net income obtained for the month following the month in which the income was obtained, provided that it is obtained on the day the right to the scholarship is established;
25. The amount of income earned from the month following the month in which the income is obtained, if it is received at the time of determining the right to benefits, shall be documented with:

1. a certificate issued by the payer of the income (the employing company) or a declaration made under penalty of false declaration or a printout from a bank account stating the payer and the month for which the income was obtained;
2. a certificate issued by the payer of the income or other document, if it is income not subject to personal income tax;
3. a declaration, in the case of income from non-agricultural economic activity taxed on a general basis, from the month following the month in which the income was greater than zero;
4. a declaration, in the case of obtaining income from non-agricultural economic activity taxed on the principles specified in the provisions on flat-rate income tax, where the earned income is the amount of monthly income declared to the Tax Office;
5. a declaration in the case of obtaining income from non-agricultural business activities taxed under the provisions of the tax card, where monthly income is the income obtained according to the amount of paid tax, divided by 12 months,

(see: income announced annually, by way of a notice, by the minister responsible for family affairs, in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland „Monitor Polski” by 1 August each year, issued pursuant to Art. 5 sec. 7a of the Act on Family Benefits.

A change in the terms and conditions of employment des not constitute a new job and therefore not a gain of income (e.g. increase in salary, increase in FTE) nor a loss of income (e.g. decrease in salary, decrease in FTE).

Is not subject to recalculation!;

26. If a person carrying out activities taxed under the flat-rate income tax or tax card rules an has also earned income taxed under the general rules (e.g. received sickness and maternity benefits), this income is also included in the family income;
27. A student running a business or a student whose family member runs a business taxed on a general basis, the income is calculated on the basis of a certificate from the Tax Office on the amount of income obtained from this activity in the calendar year preceding the academic year for which the right to a social scholarship is established. This income is reduced by social insurance contributions, own health insurance premiums paid, and income tax due;
28. In the case of determining income from activities subject to taxation on the basis of the flat-rate income tax on certain incomes earned by natural persons in the calendar year preceding the academic year in which the entitlement to a social scholarship is being established or from business activities subject to taxation in the form of a tax card, the income shall be calculated on the basis of the income published annually by the minister responsible for public finance, by means of a public notice by the minister responsible for family matters in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland „Monitor Polski” by 1 August each year;
29. To a student or a member of his or her family who is engaged in specialised agricultural production, income is determined in two ways:

1) if books showing income are kept (tax book of incomes or accounting books) – on the basis of PIT-6 and a certificate from the Tax Office,

2) if the aforementioned books showing income are not kept - income from this source is determined using the estimated norms of income from a specific area of crops or animal production unit, as specified in the regulation of the Minister of Finance, on the basis of PIT-6 and a certificate from the Tax Office,

(The Minister of Finance together with the Minister in charge of agriculture, announces by regulation the estimated norms of income from the special agricultural production activities(income from a specific area of crops or livestock production unit), changing them annually to the extent corresponding to the rate of growth of agricultural commodity prices announced by the President of the Central Statistical Office in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland „Monitor Polski”)

30. Income does not include the amount of the one-off cash benefit for pensioners paid on the basis of the Act on Additional Annual Cash Benefit for Pensioners.

NON-TAXABLE INCOME:

31. Income that is not subject to personal income tax is documented by declarations of persons earning such income and by certificates of entities paying this income (for example, income received from Art. 27f sec. 8-10 of the Act of 26 July 1991 on Income Tax on Natural Persons – Child Tax Credit, shall be documented by a certificate from the Tax Office) or other certificates or evidence.
32. The student's family income does not include:
    1. income not subject to personal income tax or flat-rate income tax on certain incomes earned by natural persons which are not specified in Article 3 point 1(c) of the Act of 28 November 2003 on Family Benefits - this will include e.g. family benefits (i.e. family allowance, supplements to family allowance, care benefits, including nursing allowance), social assistance benefits due pursuant to the Act on Social Assistance (i.e. family allowance, supplements to family allowance, care benefits, including nursing allowance and care benefits), social assistance benefits due pursuant to the Act on Social Assistance (i.e., permanent benefits, periodical benefits, purpose-specific benefits, etc.), direct payments to farmers under the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy;
    2. child-support benefit referred to in the Act of 11.02.2016 on state aid in upbringing children; the 500+ benefit, and child-support allowance referred to in the Act of 09.06.2011 on family support and the foster care system;
    3. material assistance benefits for students awarded on the basis of the Law on Higher Education;
    4. benefits received on the basis of the Integrated Regional Development Operational Programme for Improving educational opportunities through scholarship programs (the so-called EU scholarships for students);
    5. material or incentive aid benefits for students received on the basis of the Education System Act of 7 September 1991;
    6. the amount of alimony paid by family members to other persons not included in the composition of the family;
    7. the amount of the one-off benefit referred to in Art. 10 of the Act of 04.11.2016 on support for pregnant women and families "Za życiem";
    8. benefit to which an unemployed person is entitled on the basis of the provisions on employment promotion and labour market institutions for performing socially useful work;
    9. one-off cash social benefit;
    10. cash benefits referred to in Art. 8a section 1 of the Act of 07.09.2017 on the Polish Charter;
    11. a one-off cash benefit for pensioners.

33. Income includes the cash benefit received for service in the Territorial Defence Forces. In accordance with Article 98k sec. 1 of the Act of 21.11.1967 on the Universal Duty to Defend the Republic of Poland the service relationship of territorial military service (Territorial Defence Forces - WOT) is established by way of an appointment, on the basis of a voluntary application for this service. In light of the above, service within the territorial defence forces, is performed on the basis of a service relationship of appointment. The service relationship of appointment is treated as employment or other gainful work under the Act on family benefits. In accordance with Art. 3 point 22 of the Act, employment or other gainful work is also understood as performing work on the basis of an employment relationship. The amount paid for service in the WOT is included in income on the basis of Art. 3 point 1(a) of the Act on family benefits. For the aforementioned reasons, remuneration for service in the WOT, constitutes income earned under Art. 3 point 24(c), of the aforementioned Act and income lost pursuant to Art. 3 point 23(c);
34. When determining the entitlement to a social scholarship, the income of a student's family also includes the amount of an ordered alimony for a child, student, or other family member;
35. Alimony received in the base calendar year is included in the income. In the case of an increase or decrease in alimony received from the same person after the base year, an increase or decrease in alimony is not taken into account. The total amount of received alimony in the base year is divided by 12 months;
36. If a family member has an established right to alimony but does not receive it or receives it in an amount lower than that established by a judgement/ court settlement/ mediator settlement, the family income constituting the basis for calculation includes the alimony in the received amount;
37. In the event of not paying alimony by the person obliged by a court judgment, the student or a member of his or her family should address a bailiff to initiate enforcement proceedings. As a result, the bailiff issues a certificate of total/ partial enforcement of maintenance in the base year. In the case of partial enforcement, the part of the benefits enforced, confirmed by a certificate, is included in the income and this amount is divided by 12 months;
38. If it is not possible for a bailiff to enforce alimony payments for a child studying up to the age of 26, the student's parent or student should apply for an alimony fund benefit. A certificate of the amount of benefit received in the base year, which constitutes the basis for calculating the income of the student's family, or of not receiving an alimony fund benefit, must be included in the documentation concerning the income of the student's family. This is tax-free income, included in the student's family income. The total amount of benefits received from the alimony fund in the base year is divided by 12 months,
39. If the student does not receive payments from the alimony fund, a certificate from a bailiff on the total or partial inability to enforce alimony payments for the base year shall be taken into account;
40. Loss of ordered maintenance or cash benefits paid in the event of ineffective enforcement of alimony payments shall only be taken into account in the event of the death of the person obliged to perform such payments;
41. When determining the income of a student's family, the fact of provision and the amount of alimony provided to other persons in the base year is documented by a copy of a final court judgment/ a copy of a copy of the minutes of a meeting containing the content of a court settlement and transfers/ money orders confirming the provision of alimony to persons outside the family. These amounts are deducted from the student's family income.

AGRICULTURAL HOLDING:

42. The income from an agricultural holding is calculated on the basis of the agricultural area stated in converted hectares held by the family in the calendar year preceding the period of collecting material assistance benefits by assuming the annual average income from work on individual agricultural holdings from 1 converted hectare, published pursuant to Art. 18 of the Act of November 15, 1984 on agricultural tax. This information is made public on 23 September each year, by the President of the Central Statistical Office (GUS). The income calculated in this way is divided by 12 months. In the case of receiving income from an agricultural holding and income from non-agricultural activities, these amounts are added together;
43. An agricultural holding is deemed to be an area of land referred to in Art. 1 of the Act of 15 November 1984 on Agricultural Tax on a total area exceeding 1 physical hectare or 1 conversion hectare, owned or held by a natural person, a legal person, or an organisational unit, including a company without legal personality. In the case of a smaller area, no income is determined (it is assumed as 0);
44. When determining the family income earned from an agricultural holding, the following are included in the area of the holding