Polish farmer in the year:
No PIT tax – most individual farmers settle on a lump sum basis under the Agricultural Tax Act, which means no classic income tax. PIT applies only to business activity outside agriculture.
It generates low added value for GDP – the agricultural sector is responsible for about 2-3% of GDP, while its productivity is much lower than in other sectors. Estimates of losses of PLN 15 billion per year appear in analyses of system efficiency, but they are debatable and depend on methodology.
It receives direct subsidies – according to the rules of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, subsidies are granted mainly for the area of land, regardless of production efficiency. In 2025, the average subsidy is about 1000–1500 PLN/ha.
It uses cheaper agricultural fuel – farmers can apply for a refund of excise duty for diesel used in agricultural production. In 2025, the refund rate is PLN 1.46/litre.
It does not pay contributions to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) or the National Health Fund – farmers are covered by a separate social security system (KRUS), which provides for much lower contributions than the Social Insurance Institution. The health contribution in KRUS in 2025 is about 1/3 of what it is in ZUS.
It uses EU funds – farmers have access to investment programs (e.g. modernization of farms) and social programs (e.g. support in weather crises). In 2025, m.in was launched. the "Disaster 2025" program, which provides for compensation of up to PLN 3000/ha for crop losses.
Receives remuneration for not performing work – in disaster situations (e.g. frost, floods), farmers can receive compensation for lost crops, even if they did not carry out sowing. The condition is to document losses exceeding 30% of the average production.
Most of them vote for PiS – according to CBOS and IPSOS surveys, farmers are one of the most loyal electorates of Law and Justice. In the 2023 parliamentary elections, about 67% of farmers supported PiS.
The profession of a farmer is partially closed access to the status of a farmer (e.g. in the context of KRUS, subsidies or farm inheritance) requires certain conditions to be met, such as owning agricultural land and conducting agricultural activity. Not everyone can "enter this system from the street".
https://www.rynekzdrowia.pl/Finanse-i-zarzadzanie/Ksiadz-rolnik-i-mundurowy-placa-najmniej-na-zdrowie-Eksperci-czas-skonczyc-z-przywilejami,281818,1.html
Posted by Gamebyter
9 Comments
Priest and farmer – yes.
Uniformed officers such as policemen and soldiers are doing a thankless risky job and as such they should remain priviledged.
Priests and farmers
Ah, so those people who are the most backwards and conservative
At first line I thought it would be a boomer joke…
Take those and 100% will support pis
Ok, so we defund the farmers, let’s assume it becomes not worth it to produce food in Poland, do we import most of our crops then? Potatoes that are imported are ass already, what else do I need to forget about eating? Becoming reliant on food export sounds problematic in the long run.
Agriculture does not need to be a huge part of the GDP. It just needs to exist, just like power generation and public transport.
If it’s such a small part of society that actually qualifies as farmers then subsidizing this necessary sector is a small price to pay.
Another crucial fact is that almost 25% of EU funds go to farmers in the EU.
Polish budget for 2026 hits a bit over 918 billion PLN. This year the subsidies are supposed to come up to 76 billion PLN. If you assume that 15.6 million households spend about 1.5k on food every month that’s over 280 billion PLN every year. Getting rid of the subsidy would mean over 25% increase in food prices, and that does not include price changes because of lack of local availability (transport and refrigeration costs will increase dramatically if local availability goes down)
People need food to thrive and survive. That’s why it is such a big deal. Stop with the PiS nonsense, it’s basically calling conservative voters dumb and ignorant.
Not everything is a pure numbers game. Running industries that are key to national interest on a loss is normal. Obviously it would be better if these industries were independently profitable but you don’t want to be 100% reliant on imports for food. That’s just bad planning.
Agriculture is critical industry. I would really like to see it change for something more efficient, as currently we have far too many, far too small farms, but being able to feed our own country by ourselves is important. Besides, cutting that support without providing alternatives would accelerate depopulation of small cities and villages, while accelerating housing crisis in big cities. Also they can vote for whoever they want. That’s democracy.Â
Since when agriculture is meant to generate money in the first place? It’s like expecting our national bank (NBP) to generate money, NFZ to gain money from medical procedures or public transport in the cities to be profitable.
There are things in our economy that are costly in the absolute terms, but needed for many of reasons.