Yesterday, the Sejm adopted a law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens in connection with an armed conflict on the territory of that country.
The Act contains, in particular, the following solutions:
I. Work and social matters
Stay
- legal stay in Poland for 18 months for people who came directly from Ukraine and declared their intention to stay in Poland;
- possibility of further legalization of stay – persons whose stay in Poland is or was considered legal will be granted a temporary residence permit for a period of 3 years;
- assigning a PESEL number;
- the possibility of creating a trusted profile.
Labor market
- access to the labor market – registration at the District Labor Office;
- the employer is to notify within 7 days of entrusting work to a foreigner;
- access, incl. job placement, vocational counseling and training – on the same terms as Polish citizens;
- access to certain social benefits.
Social assistance
possibility of accommodation and meals by voivodes and local governments;
- each entity, in particular a natural person, who will provide accommodation and meals to Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war, will be able to receive a benefit on the basis of an agreement concluded with the commune – for a maximum of 60 days, and its amount will be specified in the regulation of the Council of Ministers. It is estimated that it will be PLN 40 a day, i.e. about PLN 1,200 per month;
- Ukrainian citizens will be able to apply for a one-time maintenance benefit in the amount of PLN 300 per person (covering expenses for food, clothing, footwear, personal hygiene and housing fees).
Healthcare
- every Ukrainian citizen legally residing in Poland will have guaranteed access to the public health care system, on the same terms as Polish citizens;
- The National Health Fund will finance benefits from the state budget.
Education
- providing education and upbringing to children or students who are citizens of Ukraine. For this purpose, new locations for conducting classes can be created;
- Ukrainian students who escaped from the war will be able to continue their education at Polish universities.
An Assistance Fund will be established. Funds therefrom will be allocated, in particular, to financing or co-financing tasks related to assistance provided to Ukrainian citizens.
II. Taxes
Exemption of aid from PIT
Exemption from PIT of the value of free benefits (in kind and services), including humanitarian aid, received by Ukrainian citizens in the period from February 24, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
Tax costs
Tax costs in CIT and PIT will be the production costs or the purchase price of goods / rights that are the subject of donations in the period from February 24, 2022 to December 31, 2022 for purposes related to counteracting the effects of hostilities in Ukraine – provided that that the service was provided to certain entities:
- public benefit organizations;
- local government units;
- the Governmental Agency for Strategic Reserves;
- entities that perform medical activities or activities in the field of emergency medical services in Poland or Ukraine.
“Minimum” tax
For the purpose of calculating the loss and the share of income in the calculation of the so-called “Minimum tax” will not include the costs of acquisition / production of the items of donation referred to in the above point.
Unfortunately, at the moment, the provisions do not provide for the possibility of tax deduction in the event of a direct – i.e. made for specific persons – free benefit.
Business and advisory circles report such demands to the Ministry of Finance and parliamentarians. Perhaps it will be possible to introduce such provisions at the stage of parliamentary work.
VAT
Let us recall that the Regulation introducing a 0% VAT rate for goods and services for the purposes of assisting victims of the consequences of hostilities on the territory of Ukraine is already in force.
The conditions for applying the 0% rate are:
- providing benefits to one of the following entities: Governmental Agency for Strategic Reserves, medical entities, local government units;
- conclusion of a written agreement resulting from the above-mentioned objective.
The exemption lasts until June 30, 2022, but it can be applied to activities performed from February 24.
In the case of activities performed between February 24 and March 4, 2022, a written confirmation is sufficient instead of a written contract.
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The provisions are to enter into force on the day they are published in the Journal of Laws and will, as a rule, apply retroactively from February 24, 2022.
