Fees - what's worth knowing?

Notary Fees – What Do They Consist Of?

The total cost of a notary act, borne by the Client, consists of several mandatory components. The notary acts not only as a person collecting their own remuneration (notary fee), but also as a payer of taxes and court fees on behalf of the State Treasury or the court.

The individual components of the fees are:

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Notary Fee (Taksa Notarialna): This is the notary's remuneration for performing a notary act. The rates of the notary fee are strictly defined in the Regulation of the Minister of Justice on maximum notary fees (Rozporządzenie Ministra Sprawiedliwości w sprawie maksymalnych stawek taksy notarialnej). The amount of the fee depends on the type of act performed and often on the value of the subject of the act (e.g., the market value of real estate).

In the case of acts where the amount of the fee depends on the value of the subject of the act, the rates specified in § 3 of the aforementioned regulation apply. Its content is as follows:

§ 3. The maximum rate is based on the value:

1. up to 3,000 PLN – 100 PLN;

2. above 3,000 PLN up to 10,000 PLN – 100 PLN + 3% of the excess above 3,000 PLN;

3. above 10,000 PLN up to 30,000 PLN – 340 PLN + 2% of the excess above 10,000 PLN;

4. above 30,000 PLN up to 60,000 PLN – 740 PLN + 1% of the excess above 30,000 PLN;

5. above 60,000 PLN up to 1,000,000 PLN – 1,040 PLN + 0.4% of the excess above 60,000 PLN;

6. above 1,000,000 PLN up to 2,000,000 PLN – 4,720 PLN + 0.2% of the excess above 1,000,000 PLN;

7. above 2,000,000 PLN – 6,720 PLN + 0.25% of the excess above 2,000,000 PLN, however, not more than 10,000 PLN, and in the case of acts performed between persons classified in Tax Group I within the meaning of the provisions on inheritance and donation tax, not more than 7,500 PLN.

Taxes:

When performing certain notary acts, the notary is obliged by law to collect the due taxes on behalf of the state and transfer them to the appropriate tax office. The taxes most frequently collected by the notary are:

• Civil Law Transactions Tax (PCC - Podatek od Czynności Cywilnoprawnych): Collected, for example, with sale agreements, exchange agreements, establishment of a mortgage, or company agreements. PCC rates are specified in the PCC Act and vary depending on the type of transaction (e.g., 2% on real estate sales).

• Inheritance and Donation Tax: Collected in the case of notary acts documenting, for example, donations or gratuitous dissolution of co-ownership, provided that such a transaction is subject to this tax in accordance with the Act on Inheritance and Donation Tax.

The collected tax amounts do not constitute the notary's income, and the notary makes the performance of the act conditional on prior payment of the due tax amount.

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Court Fees: The notary collects court fees in the case of notary acts that necessitate registration in the land and mortgage register. This most often applies to agreements transferring property ownership, agreements establishing limited property rights (mortgage, easement). The notary collects this fee from the Client and transfers it to the competent land and mortgage registry court. The amount of court fees is regulated by separate provisions (the Act on Court Costs in Civil Cases).

 

The collected court fee amounts also do not constitute the notary's income, and the notary makes the performance of the act conditional on prior payment of the court fee.

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Cost of Extracts (Wypisy): The Client receives an extract (wypis) of the notary act from the notary, which is a copy of the document having the force of the original, while the document originally signed by the parties remains in the notary's office. The fee for preparing each extract depends on the number of pages in the given document and is also regulated by law. The number of necessary extracts depends on the type of act and the Client's needs, as well as the institutions requiring the submission of the act (e.g., court, office).

The notary fee for performing a notary act and the cost of preparing each extract of the notary act are always subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) at the currently applicable rate of 23%.

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Before proceeding with the notary act, the notary informs the Client about the estimated total costs, separately indicating the amount of the notary fee, due taxes, court fees, and the costs of extracts. Information about the fees collected by the notary is also included in the content of the notary act.