KPMG Weekly Tax Review. Amendments to Polish Tax Code, CIT Act and Labor Law: overview of Sejm session

During the Sejm session held on 9-12 September 2025,

the following statutes were passed:

• the act amending the Polish Tax Code, providing, inter alia, for introducing the principle of the presumption of taxpayer innocence, meaning that in tax proceedings instituted ex officio, irresolvable uncertainties regarding the facts of a case shall be resolved in favour of the taxpayer – new regulations are to enter into force 14 days after publication in the Polish Journal of Laws,
• the act amending the Polish Tax Code, stipulating that default interest shall not accrue during a tax audit or customs and fiscal audit, if the audit exceeds six months (from the day following that period until its end) – new regulations are to enter into force 14 days after publication in the Polish Journal of Laws,
• the act amending the CIT Act, providing for, among other changes, the removal of the requirement for holding companies to submit a statement of intent to apply the CIT exemption to share disposals, as a condition for benefiting from the material exemption – new regulations are expected to enter into force next day after they are announced,
• the act amending the Labor Code and certain other acts, which provides, among other things, for the inclusion in the length of service of, inter alia, work performed under a contract of mandate, self-employment, or employment abroad, and applies to the entire period of employment regardless of the number of hours worked, as well as to previous periods of employment – new regulations are to enter into force on 1 January 2025,
• the act amending the Act on the Central Register and Information on Economic Activity and the Business Information Desk, and the VAT Act, introducing, inter alia, regulations allowing for the verification of a contractor’s credibility by enabling online checks to confirm their inclusion in the register of VAT taxpayers – new regulations are to enter into force on 1 October 2025,
• the act on heating subsidy voucher and amending certain other acts, which provides for, inter alia, extension until 31 December 2025 of the mechanism ‘freezing’ the maximum electricity price for households at PLN 500/MWh, along with the introduction of a heating subsidy voucher – new regulations (with some exceptions) are to enter into force on the day following the act’s promulgation in the Polish Journal of Laws,
• the act amending certain acts to verify entitlement to family benefits for foreigners and to regulate the provision of assistance to Ukrainian citizens in connection with the armed conflict in that country, which introduces, among other measures, stricter rules for foreigners (primarily from Ukraine) seeking to obtain family benefits – new regulations (with some exceptions) are to enter into force on the day following the act’s promulgation in the Polish Journal of Laws,
• the act amending the Act on the refund of excise duty included in the price of diesel oil used for agricultural production, which provides, among other things, for the simplification of the excise duty refund procedure for cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and horses, in cases where agricultural production is carried out by a producer entitled to a partial refund of excise duty on fuel purchased for such production on an area of at least 1 hectare of agricultural land – new regulations are to enter into force 14 days after publication in the Polish Journal of Laws,
• the act amending the Law on procedure of administrative courts, which provides, among other things, for a reduction in the number of documents required to be submitted to administrative courts, such as powers of attorney, if the court is able to verify them independently in electronically accessible lists or public registers – new regulations are to enter into force 14 days after their promulgation.

The Acts now move to the Senate (Upper House of the Polish Parliament).

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy - Ordynacja podatkowa

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy - Ordynacja podatkowa

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy o podatku dochodowym od osób prawnych

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy – Kodeks pracy oraz niektórych innych ustaw

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy o Centralnej Ewidencji i Informacji o Działalności Gospodarczej i Punkcie Informacji dla Przedsiębiorcy oraz ustawy o podatku od towarów i usług

Ustawa o bonie ciepłowniczym oraz o zmianie niektórych innych ustaw

Ustawa o zmianie niektórych ustaw w celu weryfikacji prawa do świadczeń na rzecz rodziny dla cudzoziemców oraz o warunkach pomocy obywatelom Ukrainy w związku z konfliktem zbrojnym na terytorium tego państwa

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy o zwrocie podatku akcyzowego zawartego w cenie oleju napędowego wykorzystywanego do produkcji rolnej

Ustawa o zmianie ustawy – Prawo o postepowaniu przed sądami administracyjnymi

The Ministry of Finance launched tax consultation on the initial drafts of forms introduced by the Act of 6 November 2024 on top-up taxation of members of multinational and domestic enterprise groups. The consultation relates to draft notification forms and tax returns. These forms are designed to facilitate the proper settlement of tax liabilities related to top-up taxation and the submission of relevant notifications. They have been made available as logical structures in .XSD format. The remarks, along with relevant explanations, can be submitted until 19 September 2025 to globalny.minimalny@mf.gov.pl.

Konsultacje podatkowe - projekty formularzy w zakresie opodatkowania wyrównawczego (GloBE)

The regulations on the anti-avoidance rule have also been put out to tax consultation. The subject of the consultation is an assessment of the effectiveness of the current regulations on counteracting tax avoidance provided for by the Polish Tax Code. According to the Minister of Finance and Economy, it is appropriate to review and summarize the existing measures to evaluate the overall approach to anti-avoidance regulations. The remarks, along with relevant explanations, can be submitted to:sekretariat.dts@mf.gov.pl, within 21 days of the date of publication of the information on the commencement of consultations, i.e., by 2 October 2025.

Konsultacje podatkowe w zakresie przepisów dotyczących klauzuli przeciwko unikaniu opodatkowania

On 8 September 2025, a clearance opinion dated 22 August 2025 (ref. DKP2.8082.3.2025) was published. It relates to a downstream merger of companies (i.e., companies’ merger consisting in transferring all assets of the parent company to a daughter company, without increasing the share capital). According to the Head of the National Revenue Administration, while a tax benefit in the form of tax neutrality of the merger (for the applicant) can be identified, it does not contradict the intent or purpose of tax law or any of its provisions, especially it does not contradict Article 12(1)(8c to 8d) in conjunction with Article 4(3e) of the CIT Act. Furthermore, obtaining the tax benefit was neither the main nor one of the principal objectives of the transaction, as the reverse merger is primarily justified by the economic functions of the companies involved and the absence of development plans for the group concerning the parent company. Furthermore, the applicant’s actions were not deemed artificial. Consequently, Article 119a(1) of the Tax Code was found to have no application to the tax benefits presented by the applicant. As a result, the Head of the National Revenue Administration issued a clearance opinion.

Opinia zabezpieczająca w zakresie połączenia odwrotnego spółek

Preliminary remarks to the bill amending the CIT Act and PIT Act were added to the list of legislative work and policies of the Council of Ministers. The bill proposes eliminating the wealth criterion from the conditions required to benefit from preferential depreciation. The new regulations provide for the removal from Article 22j(7) of the PIT Act and Article 16j(7) of the CIT Act of the condition requiring that micro, small, or medium-sized businesses may individually determine depreciation rates for self-produced fixed assets, specifically, non-residential buildings (premises) and structures classified in groups 1 and 2 of the Classification, only if the asset is located in a municipality or city with district rights where the individual wealth index is less than 100% of the average wealth index for all such municipalities or cities with district rights. The bill is expected to be passed by the Council of Ministers in Q3 2025.

Założenia do projektu ustawy o zmianie ustawy o podatku dochodowym od osób fizycznych oraz ustawy o podatku dochodowym od osób prawnych

On 10 September 2025, a bill amending the Excise Duty Act and certain other acts was published on the Government Legislation Centre’s website. The bill, among other provisions, introduces increases in excise duty rates on alcoholic beverages for 2026 and 2027 (by 15% in 2026 compared to 2025 rates, and by a further 10% in 2027 compared to 2026 rates). The bill also raises the lump-sum income tax rate on prizes from competitions, games, mutual betting, and promotional sales offers (from 10% to 15% of the prize or winnings). The stage of legislative work can be checked here.

Projekt ustawy o zmianie ustawy o podatku akcyzowym oraz niektórych innych ustaw

Last week, the Council of Ministers adopted a bill amending the Act on Tax Advisory Services and the Act on Procedure of Administrative Courts. Among other provisions, the bill aims to clarify the scope of tax advisory activities; enable tax advisers to fulfil information, reporting, and related obligations arising from, among others, tax law and tax information exchange regulations, on behalf of entities subject to these requirements; streamline the tax advisor examination process; strengthen the role of the professional self-regulatory bodies of tax advisors; allow for the provision of tax advisory services under civil law contracts; and introduce a uniform for tax advisors participating in court hearings. The new regulations (with certain exceptions) are intended to come into force on 1 January 2026. Now the bill will move to the Sejm.

Rząd przyjął przepisy mające na celu podniesienie jakości świadczonych usług w ramach doradztwa podatkowego

In its judgment of 9 September 2025 (case file I FSK 524/21), the Supreme Administrative Court held that the taxable base for the supply of goods or services in exchange for a partially redeemed multi-purpose voucher is the portion of the consideration paid for the voucher that corresponds to the price of the goods or services purchased, less the amount of tax relating to the supplied goods or provided services. In such cases, it is irrelevant whether the purchaser has the option to redeem the voucher for any unused value.

In its judgment of 9 September 2025 (case file I FSK 855/22), the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that motor vehicles whose design precludes their use for purposes unrelated to business activity, or makes such use insignificant, are regarded as being used exclusively for the taxpayer’s business activity, even if there is a possibility of private use. Therefore, the right to fully deduct VAT on expenses related to such a vehicle is not affected by the possibility of an employee using the vehicle for personal purposes, provided that this use is not decisive and the primary purpose of making the vehicle available to the employee is to perform official duties.