Fund Taxation Alert 2019-06

Fund Taxation Alert 2019-06

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New WHT procedure introduced in Poland – renewed postponement

According to the draft decree recently published on the Polish Government Legislation Centre’s website, Poland’s new WHT mechanism for payments exceeding Polish zloty (PLN) 2 million has been postponed again to 30 June 2020.

The rules have already been postponed several times since January 2019. The reason for this renewed postponement should be to allow the Ministry of Finance more time to amend the WHT regulations.

Besides this, the regulations remain in force that oblige Polish tax remitters to exercise due diligence when verifying the conditions of applying an exemption or preferential WHT rate — and to verify the payment recipient as their beneficial owner.

Furthermore, we refer you to our previous newsletter from 25 November 2019 below for a detailed explanation of the current and the contemplated system, as well as a forecast of its impact on Luxembourg investment funds:

1. New WHT mechanism

Poland currently applies a relief-at-source mechanism in respect of the appropriate WHT rate. But under the new WHT rules, income will be subject to WHT at general domestic tax rates even if a reduced rate applies — for example, due to domestic exception, applicable tax treaties or EU law provisions. The investment fund may then apply for a WHT refund in excess of the reduced tax rate through a special refund procedure (known as “withholding and refund”).

The new WHT mechanism only applies to payments made by the same WHT agent to the same recipient that exceeds PLN2 million in a tax year.

The new WHT mechanism is subject to two specific exceptions from applying standard WHT rates, namely by:

1. Obtaining a tax clearance opinion — which does not apply to portfolio investments of investment funds.

2. Obtaining a WHT statement issued by the WHT agent — which could be applied upon confirmation regarding foreign investment funds — that states:

  • The WHT agent has obtained the necessary documents supporting the investment funds’ right to apply the reduced WHT rate, whether under the DTT, domestic law or based on EU law. An example would be a tax residence certificate.
  • The WHT agent is not aware of any circumstances that would cause this reduced WHT rate not to apply.

The WHT agent’s statement is only valid until the end of the second month after the month in which it was made.

2. Standard of “due care”

Since 1 January 2019, WHT agents must comply with a newly-imposed standard of due care when applying any reduced WHT rate or exemptions, regardless of whether payments to the same investment fund exceed the PLN2 million threshold. They must verify that the investment fund is the beneficial owner of the income and, when necessary, collect supporting documents. Before the payment is made, WHT agents must check that all statements and documents received from the taxpayer (fund) are correct and accurate. Fulfillment of these requirements may be subject to a tax audit.

Taking the Ministry of Finance’s draft guidelines into account, the level of due care required depends, amongst other things, on the amounts in question. Stricter requirements will be levied on taxpayers/WHT agents who pay the largest amounts. In these cases, according to the guidelines, the fulfillment of the due care standard may be demonstrated by an independent auditor or tax advisor report.

If the WHT agent does not exercise due care, it may be restricted from applying any tax exemptions or double tax treaties. It may also be subject to additional tax liabilities or penalties and the responsible individuals subject to financial or penal liabilities.

KPMG comments

The implementation of these new Polish rules will result in different WHT procedures being applied, depending on the amount paid to the same recipient:

  1. In cases where the WHT agent levies WHT, the existing relief-at-source and reclaim procedures will apply when the aggregate payment amount made to the same taxpayer (i.e. investment fund) does not exceed the threshold of PLN2 million. WHT reclaims can be filed either in writing or electronically and typically have an extendable summons deadline of seven days — except for summons regarding representation documentation that are usually not extendable.
  2. Payments over PLN2 million will trigger the new withholding and refund procedure. WHT reclaims can only be filed electronically and have a non-extendable deadline of 14 days for summons requesting additional information/documents. If the tax authorities view the response as insufficient, they will reject the reclaim. Therefore, it will be essential that the required reclaim documentation is complete. If a claim is rejected, it should still be possible to re-file if the WHT amounts covered by the claim have not timed out due to the SOL period elapsing.
  3. A combination of the two procedures may be applied when:
  •  The amounts paid by a single tax remitter (WHT agent) to the investment fund exceed PLN2 million in a given year.
  • The investment fund cannot provide a tax residency certificate and a statement confirming it meets the exemption or reduced WHT rate conditions to the WHT agent.

In this case, the relief-at-source procedure would apply to amounts under the PLN2 million threshold while the new withholding and refund mechanism would apply to amounts over this threshold. As a result, it may be necessary to file two separate reclaim procedures.

Regarding Luxembourg investment funds, the exception that depends on the WHT agent’s statement will probably only be available to corporate funds (e.g. SICAVs). This is because contractual funds (e.g. FCPs) would not be able to obtain a tax residency certificate from the Luxembourg tax authorities. In this case, WHT reclaim proceedings would have to be initiated to recover Polish taxes.

We expect that, in many cases, WHT agents are likely to refuse to issue WHT statements due to the additional difficulties and burdens involved. If this happens, investment funds may seek a “confirmatory letter” from Polish certified tax advisors that confirms they satisfy the reduced WHT rate/exemption requirements. Based on the Ministry of Finance’s draft guidelines, the “confirmatory letter” should be seen as an additional argument (rationale) proving the entity meets the ‘due care’ requirement —  which would consequently encourage the WHT agent to issue the WHT statement to apply the exemption at source.

The way forward:

  • KPMG can analyze your investment funds’ position regarding this new Polish WHT regime and support you in any necessary efforts, including: Preparing confirmatory letters.
  • Filing WHT refund claims.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for further assistance.

The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

© 2024 KPMG Luxembourg, Société anonyme, with registered office at 39, Avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, registered with RCS Luxembourg under number B149133, and a member firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved.

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