Poland: Board member liability for VAT arrears (CJEU referral)
Whether board members may be held liable for a company’s value added tax arrears
CJEU referral
The Provincial Administrative Court in Wrocław on 31 January 2024 referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling (case file I SA/Wr 966/22) regarding whether board members may be held liable for a company’s value added tax (VAT) arrears.
The court specifically asked three questions:
- Whether EU regulations allow for joint and several liability of a member of the management board of a legal person for the VAT liabilities of that legal person without first determining whether such a member of the management board acted in bad faith or that his/her conduct could be classified as resulting from a culpable error or negligence
- Whether, in order to be released from joint and several liability, a member of the management board must file a bankruptcy petition even if it has no purpose
- Whether EU regulations allow for unequal treatment of members of the management board of legal persons, in such a way that a member of the management board of a legal person with more than one creditor may discharge himself/herself from liability for the company's obligations by filing a bankruptcy petition, while a member of the management board of a legal person with only one creditor has no possibility to effectively submit such petition
Read a February 2024 report prepared by the KPMG member firm in Poland
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