KPMG Weekly Tax Review 18 MAR - 25 MAR 2024

On 14 March 2024, a working meeting of the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers, with participation of the Ombudsman, regarding the bill on the whistleblower protection (UC1), took place. As a result of the meeting, the institution of a proxy was introduced into the bill's subjective scope (the list of examples of potential whistleblowers) and the amount of compensation available to a whistleblower against whom acts of retaliation were committed was reduced - from twelve times the average monthly salary in the national economy in the previous year to one times such salary. Moreover, it was decided that some of the bill’s provisions would enter into force 6 months after the date of promulgation.

During a press conference held on 21 March 2024, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Health, and the Deputy Minister of Finance announced changes to health insurance contributions proposed by the Council of Ministers.

The changes are to enter into force on 1 January 2025 and relate to, among others, taxable persons applying the progressive tax scheme. Under the amendments, the contribution is to amount to 9% of 75% of the minimum wage, i.e., ca. PLN 310 per month. The amount of the contribution will be fixed, regardless of the income generated. Importantly, entrepreneurs applying this scheme will not have to report income from the disposal of fixed assets. Taxable persons subject to flat-rate tax with the monthly income not exceeding 2 times the projected average monthly wage will pay the same health contribution as those taxable persons using the tax scale, i.e., 9% of the 75% accounting basis being the minimum wage. Persons whose income exceeds 2 times the projected average monthly wage will pay a contribution equal to 4.9% of the surplus of income over 2 times the projected average monthly wage in the national economy. In case their income exceeds 4 times the projected average wage, PIT payers engaged in business activity who pay lump-sum tax on recorded revenue will have to pay a minimum contribution (in the amount of 9% on 75% of the minimum wage) and 3.5% on the excess over 4 times the projected average wage.

Importantly, they will not have report income from the disposal of fixed assets. Finally, deductibility of (part of) health contributions in PIT will be repealed. 

On 21 March 2024, the Ministry of Finance presented a summary of consultations on the National e-Invoicing System (KSeF) and the proposed solutions. When summarizing the consultation process, the Minister of Finance noted that the new deadline for introducing mandatory KSeF would be revealed at the turn of April and May this year.

The key issues discussed during the meeting include:

• introduction of KSeF for active VAT payers and for VAT-exempt taxable persons on the same date
• possibility to use the system to issue B2C invoices
• possibility to provide invoices issued via KSeF with attachments, which is particularly important for invoices for telecommunication services, energy, and other utilities
• possibility to issue invoices outside KSeF and uploading them on the next day
• possibility of issuing paper invoices during the transition period in a situation where the invoice has a value of up to PLN 450 and the total value in a month does not exceed PLN 10 thousand. This solution, however, will only apply in the transitional period.

More information on the consultation process summary can be found in KPMG’s Tax Alert: Tax Alert: Summary of consultations on KSeF - KPMG Poland

On 20 March 2024, the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-442/22 dated 30 January 2024 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. According to the judgment, where an employee of a taxable person for value added tax (VAT) purposes has issued a fake invoice showing VAT using the employer’s identity as a taxable person, without that employer’s knowledge or consent, that employee must be considered to be the person who enters the VAT, unless that taxable person did not exercise the due diligence reasonably required to monitor the conduct of that employee. The publication of the judgment marks the beginning of the deadline for taxable persons to apply for the resumption of completed tax and administrative court proceedings in cases involving issuing empty invoices by employees.

The Minister of Finance prepared a new draft regulation specifying the scope of additional data to be included in ledgers transferable to the head of the competent tax office in line with Article 9(1c) of the CIT Act (commonly referred to as the JPK_CIT file). The proposed regulation provides for the mandatory submission of data in the form of uniform logical structures for income taxes according to a schedule for tax years beginning after 31 December 2024, 31 December 2025, and 31 December 2026. Among other things, the new draft regulation provides for the possibility of voluntary data submission in the first year the JPK_CIT regulations become effective. New provisions are to enter into force on 1 January 2025.

In reply to the Ombudsman’s speech on works on the definition of a building structure and clarification of rules for taxing garage spaces, the Ministry of Finance announced that works are underway to coin a definition of “building structures” for the purpose of real estate tax. The goal thereof to introduce an autonomous definition into the Law on Local Taxes and Duties, which will not refer to non-tax regulations. A closed list of taxable objects may be introduced in the form of a Schedule to the said act. Work has also been undertaken to clarify the issue of how garages should be taxed.

According to the CJEU’s judgment in case C-606/22 dated 2 March 2024, the principles of fiscal neutrality, effectiveness and equal treatment must be interpreted as precluding a practice on the part of the tax authorities of a Member State pursuant to which an adjustment of VAT due, made by way of a tax return, is prohibited where goods and services have been supplied subject to a VAT rate that is too high, on the ground that cash register receipts rather than invoices were issued in respect of those transactions. Even in those circumstances, a taxable person that erred in applying a VAT rate that is too high is entitled to submit an application for a refund to the tax authorities of the Member State concerned, since those authorities may rely on unjust enrichment on the part of that taxable person only if they have established, following an economic analysis which takes account of all the relevant circumstances, that the economic burden that the tax levied though not due imposed on that taxable person has been completely neutralized.

On 22 March 2024, a draft regulation on non-collection of personal income tax on revenue generated by natural persons from receiving performances in the form of laptop computers or vouchers for their purchase or Chromebooks as part of support for the development of students' and teachers' digital competencies, as provided for in the Act on Support, was published on the Government Legislation Centre’s website.

The regulation will cover the period from 2 August 2023 to 31 December 2023. As a result, the value of tools (either laptops or vouchers for the purchase of laptops, including Chromebooks) received by students and teachers, aimed at ensuring equal access, regardless of material barriers, to innovative ways of teaching and, in the case of teachers, enabling more effective implementation of the core curriculum, will not be covered by PIT.