Tax

The taxpayer raises the risk of his business, including the risk related to the volatility of currency exchange rates, the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw said in a case concerning the possibility of selling the subject of a currency lease agreement at a price lower than the market price in a situation where the sum of receivables under the agreement – after converting it into zlotys – does not correspond to the initial value of the subject of the agreement. In the Court’s opinion, the books are kept in Polish zlotys and only the entries made in this currency are relevant for tax purposes.

The draft amendment to the VAT law published on March 15, 2023 confirms that the deadline for the introduction of obligatory e-invoicing will be postponed to July 1, 2024. It was also decided to take into account some of the demands of, among others, entrepreneurs, accountants and the IT sector, including the application of sanctions, as well as the possibility of issuing invoices before making a supply or providing a service.

In a recent judgment, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) again ruled that the restrictions provided for debt financing costs do not apply to operating leases. The second analogous ruling in this case demonstrates the formation of a line of jurisprudence favorable to lessees, which may already be the basis for creating tax policy on this issue. The ruling may put leasing companies at a disadvantage, for whom the SAC’s interpretation entails a greater risk of excess debt financing costs.

The new withholding tax rules, which effectively has come into force with the “Polish Deal”, have made tax settlement drastically more difficult for remitters. One of the biggest challenges is determining whether – and possibly how – tax should be withheld in the case of dividend payments to foreign parent companies. Unfortunately, a recent ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) only widens fuss in this regard.

The development of remote work and the increasing mobility of workers, phenomena that accelerated during and after the pandemic period, have resulted in an increasing number of taxpayers facing obligations related to the settlement of income earned abroad (as well as the settlement of income earned in Poland by persons from abroad). Key in this context is, first of all, the correct determination of the so-called tax residency and the choice of the method of avoiding double taxation.

The regulations implementing the so-called Omnibus Directive and the Goods Directive came into force on 1 January 2023. They mostly apply to consumer sales – both distance and in person , but in some cases it involves sole traders. The new rules certainly empower buyers’ position and make it necessary for traders to analyse their existing sales processes and make the necessary modifications.

The Monetary Policy Council has once again raised NBP interest rates. Although economists had expected a larger increase, this does not change the fact that interest rates have already been raised 10 times since October 2021, resulting in an increase not only in mortgage payments, but also in interest rates that are important from the perspective of taxpayers – tax, statutory and maximum interest, which translates into a higher – compared to last year already twice – value of interest for tax liabilities that have not been paid within the statutory deadlines.

In the last two years, the subject of tax schemes, which was so much commented upon immediately after the implementation of the amendments to the tax ordinance that concerned them, has lost a lot of its dynamics. However, this may soon change, due to the incompatibility of the provisions on tax scheme reporting with the constitution, which was ruled by the Constitutional Tribunal in Belgium. The French also signal similar doubts. Reservations, concerning inter alia the disclosure of professional secrecy when reporting MDRs, were also reported to the Polish Constitutional Tribunal.

A contract after the conclusion of which the parties have not issued an invoice may be regarded as an invoice if it contains all the information necessary for the tax authorities of a Member State to establish whether the substantive conditions for the right to deduct VAT are satisfied in a given case. This follows from the judgment of the CJEU in case C-235/21 Raiffeisen Leasing.

Through an amendment to the regulation for which the Ministry of Infrastructure is responsible, the mileage amount to which employees who use private vehicles for business purposes are entitled will change. Consequently, the monthly lump sum limits for such employees will also be updated. For most drivers, however, the amounts proposed in the draft will not compensate for rising operating costs. The regulation also does not regulate the reimbursement of employees for the use of, among other things, private electric cars.