Polish Tax System. Business Opportunities and Challenges

Abbreviations | str. 11

Prof. Dr Włodzimierz Nykiel, Dr Michał Wilk
Introduction | str. 13

Dr Anna Nykiel-Mateo
Poland - Law and Economy | str. 15
1. Introductory remarks | str. 15
2. Recent history: from the World War II to joining the EU | str. 16
3. Polish economy today: growth and challenges | str. 18
4. Polish legal system | str. 20
5. Closing remarks | str. 26

Prof. Dr Włodzimierz Nykiel
Polish Tax System - Basic Characteristics | str. 28
1. Tax law before 1989 | str. 28
2. Main stages of transformation | str. 29
3. Fundamental changes of Polish tax law | str. 31
4. Taxes and the financial crisis | str. 39
5. New solutions and BEPS | str. 39

Dr Michał Wilk
Polish Tax Law in the Context of EU Law | str. 42
1. Introductory remarks | str. 42
2. EU tax law in the hierarchy of sources of law in the Polish constitutional order | str. 43
3. Role of the ECJ in the process of harmonization of Polish tax law | str. 49
4. EU tax law in the practice of Polish tax authorities and administrative courts | str. 52

Dr hab. Ziemowit Kukulski, Dr Małgorzata Sęk, Dr Michał Wilk
General Tax Act | str. 56
1. Arising of tax liability (Ziemowit Kukulski) | str. 56
2. Rulings and other forms of guidance (Małgorzata Sęk) | str. 58
2.1. General remarks | str. 58
2.2. Advance tax rulings and tax explanations | str. 59
2.3. Protective opinions | str. 65
2.4. Advance pricing agreements | str. 66
2.5. Other forms of guidance | str. 70
2.6. Resolutions of extended panels of the Supreme Administrative Court | str. 71
3. Expiry of tax liabilities in Poland (Ziemowit Kukulski) | str. 72
3.1. General remarks | str. 72
3.2. Payment of a tax | str. 72
3.3. Remission of tax arrears / 74
3.4. Limitation period of tax liabilities in Poland | str. 75
4. Overpayment (Małgorzata Sęk) | str. 76
5. Third-party liability (joint and several liability) (Małgorzata Sęk) | str. 80
6. Tax succession (Michał Wilk) | str. 84
7. General rules of tax proceedings as procedural guarantees of taxpayers' rights (Ziemowit Kukulski) | str. 85
8. Power of attorney (Michał Wilk) | str. 87
9. Time limits (Małgorzata Sęk) | str. 88
10. Evidence and evidentiary procedure (Ziemowit Kukulski) | str. 90
11. Appeal procedures (Małgorzata Sęk) | str. 93
12. Verification of a final decision settled (Ziemowit Kukulski) | str. 95
13. Tax audits (Michał Wilk) | str. 96

Dr Małgorzata Sęk
Tax on Goods and Services (VAT) | str. 98
1. Introduction | str. 98
2. Competent tax authorities | str. 100
3. Taxable transactions | str. 101
4. Supply of goods | str. 102
5. Supply of services | str. 104
6. Intra-Community supply and intra-Community acquisition of goods | str. 105
7. Export and import of goods | str. 110
8. Supplies for consideration and taxation of supplies made free of charge | str. 111
9. Excluded transactions | str. 113
10. Selected exempted transactions | str. 115
11. Abuse of law | str. 118
12. Taxable persons | str. 118
13. Persons liable for payment of tax to tax authorities | str. 120
14. Tax representative | str. 124
15. Withholding agent | str. 125
16. Small enterprise exemption | str. 126
17. Place of taxable transactions | str. 129
17.1. Place of supply of goods | str. 129
17.2. Place of intra-Community acquisition | str. 130
17.3. Place of importation | str. 131
17.4. Place of distance selling | str. 131
17.5. Place of supply of services | str. 132
18. Time of taxation | str. 136
19. Taxable amount | str. 139
20. Bad debt relief | str. 144
21. Rates | str. 145
22. Deduction of input VAT | str. 147
23. Payment and refund of VAT. Tax returns and recapitulative statements | str. 157
24. Cross-border refund of VAT | str. 159
25. Joint and several liability for payment of VAT | str. 161
25.1. Acquirers of "sensitive goods" | str. 161
25.2. Proxies filing VAT registration forms of "active" taxpayers | str. 162
26. Registration | str. 163
27. Documentation | str. 165
28. VAT registry | str. 167

Dr Małgorzata Sęk
Excise Duties | str. 169
1. General remarks | str. 169
2. Taxable goods and activities | str. 169
3. Taxable persons | str. 173
4. Tax moment | str. 174
5. Taxable base and rates | str. 175
6. Taxable period and payment of tax | str. 176

Prof. Dr Adam Mariański
Income Taxes | str. 177
1. Personal income tax | str. 177
1.1. Subjective scope of taxation | str. 177
1.2. Objective scope of taxation | str. 181
1.3. Income from sources of revenue | str. 185
1.4. Tax deductible expenses | str. 186
1.5. Tax base | str. 188
1.6. Tax rates | str. 190
1.7. Collection and administration of taxes | str. 192
1.8. Flat-rate income tax and lump-sum amount on registered revenue | str. 193
1.9. Fixed-amount tax ("tax card") | str. 194
1.10. Social security | str. 194
2. Corporate income tax | str. 195
2.1. Objective scope of the application of the CITA | str. 195
2.2. Subjective scope of application of the CITA | str. 198
2.3. The concept of revenue under the provisions of the CITA | str. 199
2.3.1. Taxable revenues | str. 199
2.3.2. The moment of commencement of tax obligation | str. 201
2.3.3. Determination of the revenue upon the arm's length principle | str. 201
2.4. Determination of income | str. 205
2.5. Income tax exemptions implementing EU Directives | str. 209
2.6. Controlled foreign companies rules | str. 211
2.7. Determination of the tax base and application of the appropriate tax rate | str. 213

Dr hab. Ziemowit Kukulski, Dr Małgorzata Sęk, Dr Michał Wilk
Other Taxes | str. 216
1. Immovable property tax (Małgorzata Sęk) | str. 216
2. Tax on civil law transactions (capital duty) (Michał Wilk) | str. 220
2.1. General remarks | str. 220
2.2. The scope of taxation | str. 221
2.3. Tax base, tax rates, tax obligation and collection of the tax | str. 223
2.4. Exemptions | str. 224
3. Other business-related taxes (Ziemowit Kukulski, Małgorzata Sęk) | str. 225
3.1. General remarks | str. 225
3.2. Inheritance and gift tax | str. 225
3.3. Agricultural tax | str. 226
3.4. Forestry tax | str. 228

Dr hab. Ziemowit Kukulski
Double Tax Treaties in the Polish Treaty Practice | str. 230
1. Types of DTAs in the Polish treaty practice | str. 230
2. Periods in the Polish tax treaty practice | str. 234
3. Impact of the OECD Model Convention and the UN Model Convention on the Polish tax treaty practice | str. 238
4. The concept of PE in DTAs concluded by Poland | str. 240
5. Taxation of income from business activity in juridical and economic sense in DTAs concluded by Poland | str. 242
6. Taxation of passive investment income in DTAs concluded by Poland | str. 247
7. Taxation of capital gains and income from immovable property in DTAs concluded by Poland | str. 250
8. Taxation of income from employment and other income of individuals in DTAs concluded by Poland | str. 252
9. Polish tax treaty practice with respect to taxation of directors' fees | str. 253
10. Other income and capital in DTAs concluded by Poland | str. 254
11. Methods for the elimination of double taxation in the Polish tax treaty practice | str. 255
12. Bilateral cooperation in tax matters - prevention against tax evasion - provisions of Articles 25, 26, 27 of the OECD and UN Models in DTAs concluded by Poland | str. 256
13. Special provisions not based on the OECD or the UN Model Conventions | str. 258