WHT remitters who in 2023, after submitting an initial WH-OSC statement, continued to make payments to the same taxpayer without collecting WHT or with applying a reduced tax rate, must submit a WH-OSC follow-up statement by the last day of the month following the end of their taxable year. This means that the remitters whose taxable year coincides with the calendar year must submit the follow-up statement by 31 January 2023.
Favourable changes to the WHT regime were brought about by the Act of 07 October 2022 amending the Corporate Income Tax Act and certain other acts, commonly referred to as the Polish Deal 3.0 program, and the decree of the Minister of Finance dated 29 August 2022 on extending selected deadlines for remitters to meet their obligations in terms of lump-sum income tax (hereinafter: the Decree). Pursuant to the amended provisions, in force as of 26 October 2022, the validity of the initial WH-OSC statement, i.e., the statement on eligibility for non-collecting corporate income tax, applying an exemption or a reduced tax rate, submitted by the remitter to a tax office, was extended until the end of the taxable year (from the original 2 months from the end of the month in which the initial statement was submitted). Under previous rules, remitters submitting the initial statement could delay application of the pay & refund mechanism only until the end of the second month following the month in which the initial WH-OSC statement was submitted. Now, however, the initial statement remains valid until the end of taxable year in which it was submitted.
Consequently, the deadline for submitting a follow-up statement, i.e., the remitter's statement confirming that from the moment of submitting the original statement the remitter has remained eligible for not withholding income tax (or applying other tax preferences) was extended until the end of the month following the end of the taxable year.
However, what should be of particular focus to taxpayers is the fact that the amended deadlines already apply to payments made after 31 December 2021. This is because amendments brought by both the Decree and the Polish Deal 3.0 program take retroactive effect, meaning that taxpayer-facing changes in the form of extended deadlines apply to payments made already in 2022. WH-OSC statements should be submitted to the Head of the Lublin Tax Office.
Because of the possible technical issues related, inter alia, with system operation, we encourage you to submit the statements as soon as possible. Please note that failure to submit the follow-up statement within the stipulated deadline may result in the loss of preferences enjoyed by the taxpayer in the period between the submission of the initial statement and the end of the tax year, as well as the necessity to pay WHT, interest included. This is because the deadline for submitting the follow-up statement (as in the case of the initial one) is final and non-negotiable.
