KPMG Weekly Tax Review 04 DEC - 11 DEC 2023

On 11 December 2023, a governmental bill amending the Act on Personal Income Tax and the Act on Corporate Income Tax was submitted before the Lower House of the Polish Parliament.

The bill brings, among others, a 100% increase of the applicable limits authorizing the one-time inclusion of expenses in tax-deductible costs.

Pursuant to the bill, new provisions would enter into force on 1 January 2024.

The Ministry of Finance announced the launch of a public consultations regarding new JPK_KR logical structures for payers of corporate income tax and payers of personal income tax keeping accounting ledgers. The consultation process is open to all interested entities.

Opinions – including justifications in the form of editable documents – can be submitted until 29 December 2023 to: Konsultacje_JPK_KR@mf.gov.pl

On 1 December 2023, the Ministry of Finance announced that it launched tax consultations regarding a new model of investment deal. The Ministry of Finance stated that the analysis of the existing investment deal provisions and the experience so far yielded a conclusion that amendments are necessary in this regard. Consequently, a framework for a new model of investment deal has been established.

According to the Ministry, the goal of the consultation process is to develop a new model of investment deal which will meet the needs of investors and provide them with greater support, both at the planning stage and during investment project implementation. The consultation process is open to all interested entities. Comments and opinions can be submitted until 27 December 2023 to: porozumienieinwestycyjne.konsultacje@mf.gov.pl.

The first consultation meeting is to be held online in the first half of January 2024 (initial date: 12 January 2024).

On 1 December 2023, the Supreme Administrative Court rendered judgment in case III FSK 248/22 relating to a company, which wanted to know whether it is obliged to pay a fee under the license for the wholesale trade in alcoholic beverages sold in containers of up to 300 ml, as referred to in the Act on upbringing in sobriety and counteracting alcoholism, if the alcoholic beverages are transferred by the company to an on-site retail store and put up for retail sale in that store.

According to the Court, given that the company holds both a license for the wholesale trade in alcoholic beverages and a license for the retail trade in alcoholic beverages, and since, in the course of its business activity, it supplies alcoholic beverages in unit packages with a capacity of up to 300 ml to its own retail outlets, under the license to sell alcoholic beverages to be consumed outside the on-sale retail establishment, the company is indeed required to pay the fee specified in the Act on upbringing in sobriety and counteracting alcoholism.

In its judgment rendered on 30 November 2023 in case I FSK 2165/19, the Supreme Administrative Court stated that, in the context of tax exemption eligibility, the legislator makes a clear distinction between granting loans, loan brokerage, and loan management. According to the Court, activities carried out by a bank once a loan agreement is concluded are not subject to exemption under Article 43(1)(38) of the VAT Act, since they do not belong to the enumerated categories. Moreover, they cannot be covered with the exemption under Article 43(13) in conjunction with Article 43(1)(38) of the VAT Act, because such activities do not serve to conclude a loan agreement directly with the customer.

During the meeting of the Monetary Policy Council held on 5-6 December 2023, it was decided to keep the NBP interest rates unchanged, i.e.:

• reference rate: 5.75% annually
• lombard loan interest rate: 6.25% annually
• deposit rate: 5.25% annually
• rediscount rate: 5.80% annually
• discount rate on bills of exchange: 5.85% annually.

Changes to the reference rate affect other financial parameters, e.g., the amount of interest on tax arrears. Given that the rates remain unchanged, interest on tax arrears continues to amount to 14.5% on an annual basis.

On 6 December 2023, the notice of the Minister of Family and Social Policy dated 4 December 2023, specifying the cap for the annual accounting basis for retirement and disability pension insurance contributions in 2024 was published in the Polish Official Gazette. The cap was set at PLN 234,720 and was calculated based on the forecast average monthly wage, set at PN 7,824.