On the turn of October and November, a book by the Wolters Kluwers publishing house was published, being a part of the cycle analyzing changes in the Polish tax law system, aimed at improving its effectiveness. Authors of the publication are well-known theorists and practitioners.
One of the chapters is devoted to the general anti-avoidance clause, whose authors are prof. Agnieszka Olesińska and Andrzej Ladziński.
We particularly recommend the following excerpt from p. 134:
“To illustrate the problem, the legislator, when formulating tax avoidance definition criteria, which are at the same time prerequisites for application of the general anti-avoidance clause, set the points connected with a line that represents a border between tax optimization and tax avoidance. The border is just like a line connecting several points on the map – sufficiently precise and unambiguous as long as we look at the map. When we find ourselves in the area through which this line, though invisible, runs, we lose certainty on which side we are. The same will apply to non-obvious circumstances that will be assessed from the point of view of meeting the prerequisites for the application of the clause. A dispute on which side of the boundary between optimization and avoidance we are will most often be a dispute over the interpretation of individual provisions of Article 119a of the Tax Ordinance Act. An interpretation made in the context of specific facts will certainly reveal many doubts about the understanding of this provision. We may assume that future disputes of taxpayers with the tax administration will concern first of all how to dispel these doubts and the content of Article 119a detailed in this way."
Information about the publication: https://www.profinfo.pl/sklep/nowe-narzedzia-kontrolne-dokumentacyjne-i-informatyczne-w-prawie-podatkowym-poprawa-efektywnosci-systemu-podatkowego,91714.html
