Publications

The Ministry of Finance published a proposal of the next law aimed at the effective improvement of VAT collectability. The so called split payment is to be available as of 1 January 2018 and is envisaged only for B2B transactions.

On 11 May 2017, a judgment was given in Case C-36/16 Minister of Finance vs Posnania Investment SA. The request for a preliminary ruling covered determination whether the transfer of ownership of land (the tangible property) by a taxable person to the State Treasury, a municipality, district or regional authority in settlement of tax arrears constitutes a transaction that is subject to tax (supply of goods for consideration).

In the settlement of corporate income tax, a taxpayer in principle has no right to deduct a tax loss incurred by its branch (permanent tax establishment) located in another country. However, in certain circumstances the impossibility to deduct a tax loss of a foreign branch in a Polish tax return prepared by a CIT taxpayer may violate the principle of freedom of establishment expressed in Article 43 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

A proposal of the Act amending among others the Act on the Social Security System, announced by the Ministry already at the beginning of April, was finally published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre. The main objective of the legislator is to reduce the burden of social insurance contributions for entrepreneurs with low revenues.

One of changes implemented as of 1 January 2017 to the General Tax Code is the establishment in the tax law of an institution of general explanations to tax legal regulations – the so called tax clarifications (objaśnienia podatkowe) (Article 14a.1.2 of the Code)

A proposal of law changing certain laws in order to prevent the use of financial sector for tax fraud, amending for example the General Tax Code and the Goods and Services Tax Act, has been recently published on the websites of the Government Legislation Centre.

A judgment given on 9 February 2017 in Case C-21/16 Euro Tyre BV – Sucursal em Portugal v Autoridade Tributaria e Aduaneira, although it concerns a Portuguese company, may be of significance also for Polish taxable persons.

As of 1 January 2017, the CIT Act has been supplemented with Article 15d, which restricts the possibility to include costs settled otherwise than by a payment transfer under tax deductible costs.

27 February 2017 is a deadline for the submission to the Minister of Finance, without any summons from the tax authority, information for January 2017 regarding the VAT purchase and sales records kept (SAF_VAT), as referred to in Article 109.3 of the VAT Act.

A partner in a partnership may have his contribution to the partnership partially refunded by reduction of his capital share. The regulations which are currently in force do not specify detailed rules for taxation of payments made on that account to partners.