Poland has enacted legislation consolidating two state funds that support non-governmental organisations, bringing additional revenue into a civil society fund established under the country's Gambling Act.
The Act, published in the Journal of Laws on 4 August, amends Article 88a of the Gambling Act from 1 January 2027.
Under the revised provision, the Civil Society Development Support Fund will continue to receive 4% of the gambling surcharge revenue collected under Article 80 of the Act. Its income will also include funds recovered from public-benefit organisations under Poland's rules governing charitable activity and personal income tax allocations.
The change does not raise the proportion of gambling surcharges directed to civil society. Instead, it widens the fund's permitted revenue sources as part of a broader consolidation of public financing structures.
Poland will abolish the separate Public Benefit Organisation Support Fund on 31 December 2026. Its remaining balance, receivables, liabilities and related agreements will transfer to the Civil Society Development Support Fund.
The fund being closed currently receives money connected to the country's system allowing taxpayers to allocate 1.5% of personal income tax to eligible public-benefit organisations. This includes unspent money held by organisations that lose their qualifying status and funds found to have been used improperly.
A regulatory impact assessment prepared for the legislation recorded a balance of PLN491,885.51 ($133,800) in the outgoing fund as of 25 November 2025. Its income during 2025 was more than PLN90,000.
The assessment said the transfer would have no additional impact on state expenditure because both structures are already classified as state special-purpose funds.
The receiving fund has a wider mandate, covering programmes intended to strengthen the non-governmental sector, support organisations' statutory activities and finance institutional development. Its expenditure is distributed through open calls for proposals.
The consolidation forms part of a wider Act that also changes rules for commissioning public work to non-governmental organisations, establishes Civil Society Day on 24 April and introduces a state distinction for contributions to civil society.
Poland has also been strengthening controls over financial services connected to unlicensed gambling. Blik is due to introduce transaction blocking for websites on the Ministry of Finance's prohibited-domain register from 1 September.
The gambling amendment takes effect on 1 January 2027, while most other provisions in the Act enter into force on 1 September 2026
