We present below a short summary of the most important changes in tax/business law and practice in April.
Legislation
- The Council of Ministers has adopted a draft act on the protection of whistleblowers.
- The Council of Ministers adopted a draft act amending the Act on the Exchange of Tax Information with Other States and Certain Other Acts – implementation of the DAC7 directive. The draft act was submitted to the Sejm.
- A draft of the “deregulation” act has been published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre. One of the proposals is to make it possible to account for expenses for advisory services in eligible costs – regardless of the entity that provides them. It is also proposed to repeal the provision on suspension of the statute of limitations in connection with penal fiscal proceedings.
- A draft of the Act on housing credit “#naStart “ has been published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre – it provides, among other, exemption from PIT of subsidies to loan installments.
- A draft Act on equalisation taxation of constituent units of international and domestic groups – implementation of the global minimum tax (as part of the so-called “Pillar 2” initiative) – implementation of Directive 2022/2523 has been published on the website of the “Government Legislation Centre”.
- The Decree of the Minister of Finance on the method of sending, recorded in electronic form, a general power of attorney, a special power of attorney and a power of attorney for service (item 613) was published in the Journal of Laws.
- The Act amending the Accounting Act and Certain Other Acts (item 619) was published in the Journal of Laws – the obligation to publicly disclose the income tax report by country.
- A draft Act amending the Personal Income Tax Act and the Act on Flat-Rate Income Tax on Certain Revenues Earned by Natural Persons – the introduction of the so-called “cash PIT” has been published on the website of the “Government Legislation Centre”.
Tax Practice
Income taxes and transfer pricing
- Norwegian value added tax is not tax-neutral, but constitutes income in Polish CIT – judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 2 April 2024, file reference number II FSK 774/21.
- The statute of limitations for a civil law liability does not create income in PIT. This is not the same as its discontinuance – judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 2 April 2024, file reference number II FSK 844/21.
- The sale of real estate used in business activity generates income from this source, even if the property is not included in the fixed asset register – judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 2 April 2024, file reference number II FSK 772/21.
- The value of the founder’s cash contribution reduces the tax base in the event of the liquidation of a family foundation – judgment of the District Administrative Court in Poznan of 4 April 2024, file reference number I SA/Po 774/23.
- A family foundation may join foreign companies, similar to commercial law companies – judgment of the District Administrative Court in Łódź of 9 April 2024, file reference number I SA/Łd 114/24.
- Interest costs on a loan for the purchase of shares may be settled as part of an “operational” source of income – judgment of the District Administrative Court of 11 April 2024, file reference number I SA/Wr 977/23.
- Income of a family foundation received from the Luxembourg SICAV fund is exempt from CIT – individual interpretation of the Director of the National Tax Information of 12 April 2024, file reference number 0114-KDIP2-1.4010.38.2024.1.KW.
- The limit of cash payments in tax costs cannot be multiplied by dividing payments – judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 16 April 2024, file reference number II FSK 890/21.
- For the purposes of applying the CIT exemption in the Polish Investment Zone, the moment of obtaining income from a new investment is irrelevant – judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 16 April 2024, file reference number II FSK 881/21.
- Contribution of real estate by a family foundation to a special purpose vehicle generates CIT for the family foundation – judgment of the District Administrative Court in Łódź of 18 April 2024, file reference number I SA/Łd 163/24.
VAT
- The Ministry of Finance plans that the mandatory e-invoicing (Pol. KSeF) will enter into force from: (i) 1 February 2026 – for entities whose sales value in the previous tax year exceeds PLN 200 million and (ii) on 1 April 2026 – for all entrepreneurs.
- From 1 April, the application of 0% VAT on food has ended, while the rate of 8% has been applied to “beauty” services.
- The Minister of Finance announced that the VAT exemption limit is to increase from PLN 200,000 to PLN 240,000.
International Taxes
- The acquiring company is the successor of the acquired company in terms of the period of holding shares in the case of participation exemption in WHT – judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 9 April 2024, file reference number II FSK 1060/21.
Other
- A loan from a shareholder to a simple joint-stock company is exempt from the tax on civil law transactions (PCC) – individual interpretation of the Director of the National Tax Information of 3 April 2024, file reference number 0111-KDIB2.2.4014.319.2023.1.MM.
- The Supreme Administrative Court refused to resume the completed proceedings in the field of real estate tax on buildings. Although the provisions have been challenged by the Constitutional Tribunal, they are still in force – judgments of 4 April 2024, file reference numbers: III FSK 1317-8/23, III FSK 1327-8/23, III FSK 1344/23, III FSK 1354/23.
