The amount of an undergraduate/graduate/ student’s monthly per capita family income making them eligible to apply for a maintenance grant in the academic year 2024/2025 may not exceed PLN 1.570,50. This means income after deductions - nett income, calculated for the year 2023 (considering any potential later changes in one’s financial situation, meaning so-called “lost income” - lost income is not included in the calculations, and “earned income” - earned income needs to be added to the remaining income and documented in item 4 of Appendix no. 2 to the Regulations on the benefits granted to students of KU in the academic year 2024/2025 (Student Support Regulations 2024/2025).
First, it’s necessary to calculate the monthly (nett) income of each family member, and then total the amounts of income of all members of the student’s family and divide the result by the number of family members – this way, we calculate the monthly per capita family income, the amount of which may not exceed PLN 1.570,50.
All income – meaning:
1. revenues subject to taxation on principles defined in Article 27 (tax based on a tax scale), Article 30b (tax on income earned from e.g. gainful disposal of securities or derivative instruments), Article 30c (flat tax on income earned from non-agricultural business activity), Article 30e (tax on income earned from sale of real estate), and Article 30f (tax on income earned by a controlled foreign company) of the Act of 26 July 1991 on personal income tax (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland of 2019, item 1387, as amended), less tax deductible expenses, the due personal income tax, the social insurance contributions not classified as tax deductible expenses, and health insurance contributions; the income shall be calculated on one’s own on the basis of the relevant documents; the income of this type (and its sources) shall be included in the statement of income - in item 1 of Appendix 2 to the said Regulations.
These sources include remuneration earned under contracts of employment, specific work contracts, contracts of mandate, disability pension, unemployment benefit, income earned from business activity subject to the general principles of taxation or flat tax, etc.
2. each family member’s income subject to lump-sum tax from receipts or constant amount tax
An income subject to lump-sum income tax from receipts is a monthly income in the amount of 1/12 of the income announced annually by way of a notice of the minister in charge of family affairs in the “Monitor Polski” official gazette of the Republic of Poland by 1 August of each year.
This includes income earned from business activity subject to lump-sum tax from receipts, rental income subject to lump-sum tax from receipts, etc.; the income of this type (and its sources) shall be included in the statement of income - in item 2 of Appendix 2 to the said Regulations.
3. each family member’s income not subject to taxation
The types of non-taxable income that need to be taken into consideration when calculating the income for the purpose of application for maintenance grant include e.g. (the list below is non-exhaustive):
- maintenance for children,
- benefits received from maintenance fund,
- income from agricultural holding,
- some grants/scholarships,
- allowance granted to persons performing civic and community roles,
- income earned abroad,
- child tax credit returned by the Tax Office in an amount not covered by the amount of tax (meaning an amount received pursuant to Article 27 f sections 8-10 of the Act of 26 July 1991 on personal income tax)
- parental benefits,
- remuneration of persons aged under 26, exempt from taxation.
The income of this type (and its sources) shall be included in the statement of income - in item 3 of Appendix 2 to the said Regulations.
The list does not include income types such as e.g. family allowance or child-support benefit (commonly referred to as “500+”) - these are income types that SHOULD NOT be considered when calculating one’s income for the purpose of applying for maintenance grant (but it’s advisable to document them in the explanation statement if the applying student has reported an income below PLN 600 per family member and is obliged to submit a certificate on their and their family’s income and material circumstances, issued by the relevant social welfare unit, but has not yet submitted such a certificate).
For the purpose of applying for maintenance grant, when calculating the monthly income of a given person, their total annual income for 2023 needs to be divided by 12 months to arrive at the average monthly income; EXCEPTIONS include situations of “lost income” and “earned income”.
Speaking in most general terms, “lost income” and “earned income” are used to adjust and update the calculations made on the basis of the year 2023. If there occur any changes regarding the income of an applicant’s family members compared to the year 2023 when the applicant submits their application (no source of income which a given person had in 2023, meaning “lost income”, or the appearance of a new source of income which a given person did not have in 2023, meaning “earned income”) - the calculations made on the basis of the year 2023 need to be verified accordingly.
If there has been a case of lost income in 2023 or after 2023, when determining the amount of income of a given person for 2023, lost income should not be included in the calculations: the amount earned in 2023 from the source of the lost income in question is not taken into consideration (NOTICE: not every type of income may be considered as lost! - see: definition of lost income).
If there has been a case of earned income after 2023, it is necessary to add the amount of the income earned in the month following the month in which the income was earned to the amount of the monthly income of a given person (NOTICE: not every type of income may be considered as earned! - see: definition of earned income) - e.g. if a contract of employment was concluded on 1 July 2024, the amount of “earned income” is the amount of the nett remuneration for August 2024.
The point of reference is always the moment of submission of the application (until the moment of obtaining the decision). This means that e.g. if a family member gained an income from February 2024 to August 2024 from a source they did not have in 2023, it is not a case of “earned income” because this source of income does not exist anymore. Such an income will not be considered in the calculations at all.
Until the committee analyses an application and issues a relevant decision, the applying undergraduate/graduate/doctoral student is obliged to report all and any changes in the financial situation of their family (“lost income” and “earned income”).