KPMG Weekly Tax Review. Excise duty examined by Supreme Administrative Court

On 17 July 2025, the Upper House of the Polish Parliament (the Senate) passed, unamended, the following statutes:

• the act amending the CIT Act, providing for removing the obligation to publish a report on the executed tax strategy by the largest CIT payers; – new regulations are to enter into force on the day following the act’s promulgation in the Polish Journal of Laws;
• the act amending the PIT Act and the CIT Act, limiting the obligation to submit an annual report on the composition of partners in a Polish general partnership – new provisions are expected to enter into force on 01 January 2026;
• the act amending the Accounting Act and the Act on Statutory Auditors, Audit Companies, and Public Supervision, and certain other acts, which delays by two years the entry into application of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requirements for (second-wave) large companies as well as (third-wave) small and medium-sized businesses – new regulations are to enter into force on the day following the act’s promulgation in the Polish Journal of Laws.

In turn, on 17 July 2025, the Senate made amendments to the following statutes:

• the act amending the Gift and Inheritance Tax Act, changing the rules for settling tax on recurring performances – new regulations are to enter into force 14 days after publication in the Polish Journal of Laws;
• the act amending the Act on Investments in Wind Farms and certain other acts, reducing the minimum distance between wind farms and residential buildings from 700 to 500 meters – the new regulations (with some exceptions) are to enter into force on the first day of the month following one month after the date of publication.

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy o podatku dochodowym od osób prawnych

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy o podatku dochodowym od osób fizycznych oraz ustawy o podatku dochodowym od osób prawnych

Ustawa zmieniająca ustawę o zmianie ustawy o rachunkowości, ustawy o biegłych rewidentach, firmach audytorskich oraz nadzorze publicznym oraz niektórych innych ustaw

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy o podatku od spadków i darowizn

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy o inwestycjach w zakresie elektrowni wiatrowych oraz niektórych innych ustaw

On 15 July 2025, preliminary remarks to the bill amending the Gift and Inheritance Tax Act were added to the list of legislative work and policies of the Council of Ministers. The bill provides for, inter alia, the possibility of reinstatement of a time limit to notify of the acquisition of property and/or property rights by the members of the immediate family or acquisition by way of succession and/or specific bequest of an enterprise of a natural person and/or a share therein in unexpected circumstances not attributable to the taxable person. Furthermore, under the bill, the tax obligation for the acquisition of property and proprietary rights by way of succession shall arise upon the certificate of inheritance becoming final and non-appealable, the registration of the deed of succession, or the issuance of the European Certificate of Succession (and not upon acceptance of the inheritance). The bill is anticipated to be approved by the Council of Ministers already in Q3 2025. 

Projekt ustawy o zmianie ustawy o podatku od spadków i darowizn

On 15 July 2025, the Council of Ministers passed a bill amending the Act on Social Insurance System (as part of the deregulation initiative). The bill eliminates the obligation for entrepreneurs to retain social security registration forms in paper format. Currently, in the case of submitting social security registration form to the authority (Polish Social Security Administration, ZUS) electronically, entrepreneurs must keep copies thereof in writing, with the handwritten signature of the person registered, for five years. New regulations are to enter into force 14 days after publication in the Polish Journal of Laws. Now the bill will move to the Sejm.

Projekt ustawy o zmianie ustawy o systemie ubezpieczeń społecznych

On 15 July 2025, a draft regulation amending the regulation of the Minister of Finance on authorizing National Revenue Administration (KAS) bodies to perform anti-tax avoidance activities of the Head of the National Revenue Administration was published on the Government Legislation Centre’s website. The draft regulation assumes the repeal of part of the authorization for selected KAS authorities to perform the tasks of the Head of KAS in the scope of counteracting tax evasion to the extent that it concerns the possibility of granting immediate enforceability of a decision issued by an authorized body as a body of first instance, on behalf of the Head of the National Revenue Administration. Currently the draft is being assessed. The final regulation is expected to be issued in August 2025.

Projekt zmiany rozporządzenia Ministra Finansów w sprawie upoważnienia organów Krajowej Administracji Skarbowej do wykonywania zadań Szefa Krajowej Administracji Skarbowej z zakresu przeciwdziałania unikaniu opodatkowania

The Ministry of Finance published statistical data on tax proceedings conducted under the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) and the clearance opinions issued (as at 30 June 2025). The data includes an aggregate summary of cases up to the end of 2020 and, in addition, summaries for individual quarters from Q1 2021 onwards.           
The published summary shows, among other things, that: since 15 July 2016, a total of 264 proceedings have been instituted; between 2016 and 2023, a total of 196 first-instance GAAR assessment decisions was issued; in 2025, a total of 16 first-instance GAAR assessment decisions have been issued.     
In addition, by the end of 2020, 63 applications for clearance opinions were filed (of which clearance opinions were issued in 29 cases), and in 2025, 35 applications for clearance opinions were filed (of which clearance opinions were issued in 12 cases). The Ministry of Finance announced that it will update the published data at the end of every quarter. The data can be accessed here.

Statystyki postępowań podatkowych dot. GAAR

The European Commission has dropped plans to levy a tax on US digital companies, such as Google or Meta. At the same time, the European Commission plans to introduce new sources of income, including, inter alia, tobacco tax, CORE (Corporate Resource for Europe), i.e., corporate tax on entities with annual net turnover of at least EUR 100 million, ETS (Emissions Trading System), and electronic waste recycling fee. Notwithstanding the above, the Polish Ministry of Digital Affairs is currently working on the introduction of a digital tax. The relevant bill is expected to be published already in 2025.

On 15 July 2025, the Statistics Poland issued a notice on the consumer price index, which in the first half of 2025 amounted to 4.5%. Based on the data provided, the Minister of Finance issued a notice on local taxes and fees in 2026. It can already be predicted that in 2026, the real estate tax rate for residential buildings will increase by PLN 0.05, the vehicle tax rate for trucks (3.5–5.5 t) will increase by PLN 54.22, and the dog tax rate will increase by PLN 8.02. It should be noted that the rates indicated by the Minister of Finance are the maximum amounts that may not be exceeded by local authorities. The final amount of the rates depends on the decision of the municipal council. Municipalities may therefore apply lower values but may not raise them above the announced limits. It is now worth monitoring the resolutions of local municipal and city councils in the second half of the year to determine the increase in the tax burden in 2026.

Komunikat w sprawie wskaźnika cen towarów i usług konsumpcyjnych w pierwszym półroczu 2025 r.

According to the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court dated 11 July 2025 (case file I FSK 831/22), the collection of mixed petroleum products in one or more tanks and/or IBC containers at a tax warehouse constitutes ‘manufacturing’ within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the Excise Duty Act, as worded in 2008. The definition provided therein refers to an objective process and does not require the presence of ‘intent’ to create a new product, that is, it excludes any subjective element. According to the Supreme Administrative Court, the mixing process is objective in nature, i.e., it does not depend on whether the company intends to actively mix substances, for instance, by shaking the tank, but rather on the fact that, by pouring additional substances into the tank, the company accepts or is aware that mixing will occur as a result.