KPMG Weekly Tax Review. Minimum remuneration for work to increase in 2026

On 31 July 2025, a general ruling of the Minister of Economy and Finance dated 29 July 2025 (ref no. DTS5.8092.3.2025) was published. The ruling explains how increasing the share capital of a company should be qualified in the view of the Mandatory Disclosure Rules (MDR). According to the Minister, any increase of the share capital through non-cash contribution subject to or exempt from VAT shall not be treated as a tax scheme, since it is not subject to the tax on civil law transactions. The same applies to cash contributions, provided that the tax on civil law transactions is paid on the value of the increase, and the surplus over the face value does not give any right to supplementary shares. In turn, intentional undervaluation of the share capital increase in relation to the cash contribution made, if the main goal thereof is to reduce the amount of the tax on civil law transactions, can be treated as a tax scheme. Each case, however, should be assessed on an individual basis, considering the actual intentions behind performing a given transaction. Contributions towards share capital of a simple joint-stock company are not subject to the tax on civil law transactions and shall not be treated as tax schemes.

Interpretacja Ogólna Nr DTS5.8092.3.2025 Ministra Finansów i Gospodarki z dnia 29 lipca 2025 r.

On 31 July 2025, the Ministry of Finance held a press briefing on the fight against aggressive tax optimization and transferring profits outside Poland. The Ministry announced that there has been a shift in the approach to customs and tax inspections, to prioritize audits in the areas where the risk of losses for the state treasury is the most pronounced, with the audit efficiency being assessed based on the amounts received and not the number of proceedings held. As a result, twice as many cases of underreported income were detected in 2024 than in the previous year, and in the first half of 2025, the amount of detected fraud already exceeded 30% of the total for the whole of 2023. The Ministry also announced the creation of a Competence Centre against Aggressive Tax Planning, as well as a special team for CIT optimization using transfer pricing, which will prepare proposals for changes in regulations and analyse international practices. The goal of the actions undertaken is to make the fight against unfair tax practices more efficient.

On 29 July 2025, a clearance opinion dated 30 June 2025 (ref. no. DKP3.8082.1.2025) on contribution of shares was published. In the analysed case, shareholders wanted to contribute shares in a private limited company to a holding (which was also a private limited company) in exchange for shares in the holding's increased share capital. The Head of the National Revenue Administration stated that even though the analysed transaction can bring tax benefits, such as no requirement to pay CIT, PIT, and tax on civil law transactions, it does not go against the provisions or the purpose of tax statutes. According to the opinion, the key intention of the applicants was not tax optimization, but rational family property restructuring. The goal of the operations is to provide grounds for cross-generational succession and to improve family property administration. It was noted that the previous activities, such as establishing a holing conducting investment activities and the concentration of family business activities in a single entity justify the contribution of shares. The Head of the National Revenue Administration noted, furthermore, that the activities carried out are not artificial in nature and that any alternative scenario would prove ineffective. This is because the planned activity enables the achievement of the goal in a time-efficient manner, without the need to allocate significant funds. Consequently, Article 119a(1) of the Tax Code finds no application to the tax benefit resulting from the activities performed and presented by the applicant. As a result, the Head of the National Revenue Administration issued a clearance opinion.

650925 | Podgląd | Informacje | Eureka

On 29 July 2025, the Ministry of Finance published amendments to tax guidelines dated 31 January 2019 on the legally protected professional secrecy of promoters and supporters under MDR (Tax Guidelines 2019). Through its judgments in cases C-694/20 and C-623/22, the CJEU clarified which professions are entitled to provide information on tax scheme reporting requirements, rather than reporting such tax schemes to the Revenue Administration themselves. This means that tax advisors and patent attorneys, just as advocates and attorneys-at-law, enjoy professional secrecy protection. In practice, this means that instead of reporting tax schemes to the Head of the National Revenue Administration, the above-mentioned professionals must inform on this requirement other participants of the transaction, who should report such schemes by themselves. It should be kept in mind that on 7 March 2025, the Minister of Finance, considering the CJEU rulings, issued a general ruling no. DTS5.8092.2.2025, which explains the rules for applying professional secrecy provisions in the context of reporting tax schemes (Articles 86a–86o of the Polish Tax Code).

Furthermore, it specifies when and how persons performing professions of public trust may be exempt from the reporting obligation and what information obligations they have towards other entities in this regard.

Zmiana objaśnień podatkowych Ministra Finansów z dnia 31 stycznia 2019 r. w zakresie prawnie chronionej tajemnicy zawodowej promotora i wspomagającego na gruncie przepisów o schematach podatkowych - Ministerstwo Finansów - Portal Gov.pl

On 28 July 2025, the following deregulating statutes were promulgated in the Polish Journal of Laws:

1. the act amending the Personal Income Tax Act and the Corporate Income Tax Act, providing for the removal of the obligation to submit an annual report on the composition of partners in a general partnership under the CIT Act, provided no changes have occurred; the elimination of the penalty of losing CIT payer status (for tax groups that engage in non-arm's length transactions with related entities outside the group); and the introduction of more lenient tax refund rules in cases where a decision on support within the Polish Investment Zone (PSI) or a permit to operate in Special Economic Zones (SSE) is revoked – new regulations are to enter into force on 01 January 2026;
2. the act of 9 July 2025 amending the Accounting Act and 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 listed in one of the EEA regulated markets – new regulations are to enter into force on 11 August 2025.

Moreover, during the Senate session held on 30-31 July:

1. the act amending certain acts to simplify administration procedures and promote entrepreneurship, extending the concept of tacit consent in administrative matters, was passed unamended – new provisions are to enter into force 6 months after promulgation;
2. the act amending the Fiscal Criminal Code and the Polish Tax Code, which provides for simplification of administrative tax obligations and the mitigation of penalties for fiscal offenses that do not cause direct tax losses, was adopted without amendments. New regulations are to enter into force on 01 January 2026;
3. The Senate amended the act amending the Value-Added Tax Act and amending the act amending the Value-Added Tax Act and certain other acts, which provides for introduction and simplification of the National e-Invoicing System (KSeF), i.e., a dedicated electronic system for issuing and receiving electronic invoices, which in practice means moving away from paper invoices and savings for businesses, as well as reducing the basic VAT refund period by one third, from 60 to 40 days. The act enters into force on the day following its promulgation, except for Article 1(1-4), entering into force on 01 February 2026.

Ustawa z dnia 25 czerwca 2025 r. o zmianie ustawy o podatku dochodowym od osób fizycznych oraz ustawy o podatku dochodowym od osób prawnych

Ustawa z dnia 9 lipca 2025 r. zmieniająca ustawę o zmianie ustawy o rachunkowości, ustawy o biegłych rewidentach, firmach audytorskich oraz nadzorze publicznym oraz niektórych innych ustaw

Druk nr 1376 - Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej

Druk nr 1313 - Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej

Druk nr 1407 - Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej

On 31 July 2025, a draft regulation of the Council of Ministers on the statutory minimum wage and the minimum hourly rate in 2026 was published on the Government Legislation Centre’s website.

The draft regulation provides that from 1 January 2026, the following amounts shall apply:

• the minimum wage: PLN 4806
• the minimum hourly rate: PLN 31.40

The draft regulation is expected to be passed by the Council of Ministers in Q3 2025.

Projekt rozporządzenia Rady Ministrów w sprawie wysokości minimalnego wynagrodzenia za pracę oraz wysokości minimalnej stawki godzinowej w 2026 r. - Kancelaria Prezesa Rady Ministrów - Portal Gov.pl

According to the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court dated 30 July 2025 (case file II FSK 1423/22), a branch of a foreign legal person has the right to include in its tax-deductible costs the interest on the loan granted to that branch by its foreign parent company, which financed that loan with a bank credit.

According to the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court dated 25 July 2025 (case file I FSK 110/21), importation of goods to Poland in a consignment dispatched from the territory of a third country by a private person to a private person residing in a Member State other than Poland, can enjoy VAT exemption under Article 52 of the Polish VAT Act. The exemption shall apply, provided that supplementary conditions specified in Article 52(10(1-3) and Article 52(2-3) of the VAT Act, in conjunction with Article 143(1)(b) of Directive 112 and Article 1 of Directive 2006/79/EC are met.

On 1 August 2025, the CJEU entered judgment in case C-602/24. According to the Court, Article 146(1)(b) of the VAT Directive (Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax)  must be interpreted as meaning that the exemption provided for in that provision covers a supply of goods initially declared by the supplier as an intra-Community supply which, without the supplier’s knowledge, was made outside the territory of the European Union by the person acquiring the goods, where the export at issue has been established by the tax authorities on the basis of the customs documents.

CURIA - Documents