Containers and property tax – Minister of Finance dispels doubts

Sylwia Matuszek

New property tax regulations (PON) have raised numerous doubts regarding the taxation of containers. The Minister of Finance has issued a general interpretation explaining when a container is permanently attached to the ground and subject to PON taxation from January 2025.

• New definitions caused problems

Amendments to the Local Taxes and Fees Act, which came into force on January 1, 2025, introduced a new understanding of the concept of a structure and permanent attachment to the ground. As a result, structures subject to real estate tax include, among others, those listed in Annex 4 to the Act. Item 10 of the Annex refers to container structures permanently attached to the ground.

In practice, despite the introduction of a statutory definition of permanent attachment to the ground—understood as a connection between a structure and the ground that ensures its stability and the ability to counteract external factors independent of human activity that could cause its destruction, displacement, or movement—doubts have arisen. These doubts concerned the situations in which a container should be considered permanently attached to the ground and, consequently, subject to property tax as a structure. The interpretation problems concerned in particular portable (mobile) containers, whose design allows them to be easily and repeatedly moved to another location.

• Inconsistent position of the authorities

The ambiguities resulted from the fact that the tax authorities issued contradictory individual interpretations. Some of them considered that containers placed on concrete blocks, paving stones, or concrete slabs meet the condition of being permanently attached to the ground and are subject to property tax. This unfavorable position was presented, among others, by the Mayor of Rzeszów in an interpretation dated February 6, 2025 (No. FN-310.1.2025).

Others, however, pointed out that simply placing a container on the ground is not sufficient if it is not physically connected to it. An example of this approach is interpretation No. PO.310.2.2025 issued on August 13, 2025, by the Mayor of Gliwice.

To end these discrepancies, on January 2, 2026, the Minister of Finance and Economy issued a general interpretation that clearly explains the rules for property tax on containers from January 2025.

• What does the interpretation say?

The minister indicated that, as of January 1, 2025, permanent attachment to the ground means a physical connection of the container to the ground, ensuring its stability and resistance to external factors, such as wind. This may involve, among other things, anchoring or other physical attachment of the container to the ground using appropriate construction techniques.

At the same time, the interpretation clearly emphasizes that:

• simply placing a container on a base fixed to the ground, e.g., on a concrete slab or foundation footing, does not mean permanent attachment to the ground if the container is not fixed to them,
• the weight of the container or its construction does not determine taxation – the key factor is the actual physical connection to the ground.

As a result, typical portable containers, such as office, sanitary, storage, or shipping containers, which are not physically connected to the ground, will not be subject to property tax from 2025.

However, the minister pointed out that if a container is physically connected to the ground in a way that ensures its stability, it may be considered a structure and will then be subject to property tax – even if it is still technically possible to move it later. A permanent connection of an object to the ground within the meaning of the Act does not mean that it is permanently attached to the ground.

The full text of the general interpretation can be found here: General interpretation_containers_property tax.

The general interpretation aims to standardize the practice of tax authorities and increase taxpayers’ certainty regarding the taxation of containers with property tax. The conclusions drawn from it may also be helpful in classifying other objects for which, in accordance with the Act on Local Taxes and Fees, a permanent connection to the ground is a condition for them to be considered structures.