Month: June 2020

We joined the Transnational Taxation Network (TTN), which is an international association of independent companies dealing exclusively with tax advisory and having its registered office in the Netherlands. Aldona Leszczyńska Mikulska became our representative in TTN.

More information available at: https://www.ttn-taxation.net/

 

Aldona also became a member of the International Academy of Estate and Trust law (TIATEL). TIATEL brings together experienced practitioners providing advisory services for individual clients. It gathers practitioners with over 10 years of experience. Advisors from 41 countries belong to it. More information can be found at: http://www.international-academy.org/

In relations between a company and a member of its management board, so-called unilateral legal actions are often performed. It is, for example, introducing changes regarding employment rules or deleting a mortgage. Who needs to represent the company in such situations? Marcin Borkowski, Ph.D., expert in company law, responds to these questions.

 

During the current epidemic of COVID-19, motorhomes, so-called houses on wheels, become increasingly popular. Under certain conditions, such a purchase may be tax deductible. However, a businessperson will not always have the right to deduct all VAT on such purchase. Expenses related to vehicle maintenance and use also require a special approach.

Commentary by Zdzisław Modzelewski, VAT expert, in today's tax topic of the day on the prawo.pl website.
 

The “Przedsiębiorcy dla przedsiębiorców” (Businesspersons for Businesspersons) conference will take place on 30 June. It will be a meeting during which entrepreneurs, managers, company owners and experts will share their knowledge, tools and good practices, whose implementation in the company is worth considering now or in the near post-pandemic future. Among them, there will also be Małgorzata Militz and Piotr Świstak, who will comment on the issue of VAT settlements in the times of COVID-19 and point out what to pay attention to during tax audits in the existing situation.

We encourage primarily businesses from the Podkarpacie Region to whom the conference is addressed. The agenda covers many interesting items, such as good practices and solutions implemented in SMEs, financing tools aimed at business development in the age of the pandemic, ways to start the digital transformation process or strategies and tactics for company development during the pandemic and crisis – case studies of large companies.

The meeting will be held online. Participation is free after prior registration.

http://pdlap.pl/program-konferencji-pdlap/

Last Friday, June 19, we held a training for employees of the building supervision authority. Joanna Sebzda-Załuska, attorney-at-law and managing partner of GWW, discussed the amendment to the Construction Law. We would like to thank all participants for their involvement and lively discussions, which certainly enriched our meeting.

The next training in construction law will be held on Thursday.

 

Contracting authorities keep receiving notifications from contractors relating to the occurrence of force majeure in the form of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic. They are often not specified or substantiated by evidence confirming the impact of the epidemic on the contract performance. Does such notification sufficiently protect against legal consequences of changes to contracts or from pursuing contractual penalties? This as well as other questions related to the new public procurement regulations are answered by public procurement specialist Marta Lipińska in the monthly magazine "Finanse Publiczne".

An article in Polish: http://www.finansepubliczne.pl/numery/maj-czerwiec-2020/zamowienia-publiczne-w-dobie-koronawirusa.html

From 1 January to 31 May, tax authorities blocked 52 bank accounts, of which over 86% for up to three months. This was justified by the fear of tax fraud. However, the latest judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court shows that the activities of the treasury are exaggerated and are not supported by law. At the same time, there is an issue of the principle of trust and acting with due professional care.

Commentary by Marcin Kopczyk, tax advisor.

Link to the article (in Polish): https://www.prawo.pl/podatki/blokowanie-rachunkow-bankowych-w-ramach-stir-nalezyta-starannosc,501005.html

The latest tax interpretation confirms that the VAT exemption may apply to services of a diagnostic or therapeutic nature. They must be used to prevent, preserve, save, restore, and improve health. If a given service consists of only providing certain advice, it will have to be taxed. Therefore, the purpose of the consultation matters.

Commentary by Sylwia Lubelczyk from the VAT proceedings team for Prawo.pl

"To prove the entitlement to exemption, it is always important to document that the medical consultation – although provided online – was individualized and addressed to a particular patient, and did not merely consist of general answers to questions in the field of medicine. It must also be proved that its purpose was to diagnose a patient, to provide medical assistance and to treat diseases or health disorders to the extent possible."

If a shopping center or part of a store is closed on the grounds of a government decision, then the entire building or part thereof should not be subject to tax on building revenues.

This viewpoint was presented by the Ministry of Finance in response to questions asked by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. This is a favorable viewpoint for taxpayers, however if we comply with it, we do it at our own risk, since it is not an official interpretation of the Ministry. Taxpayers who want to obtain an answer binding for themselves must apply for individual interpretations. Only thus they will get protection.

 

Commentary by Mateusz Pietranek, a tax advisor from the CIT team, for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

As Mateusz Pietranek, a tax advisor from GWW Tax, adds, if interpretations of the Director of the National Tax Information (KIS) is consistent with the position of the Ministry of Finance, this would mean a reduction in tax burden for owners and joint owners of commercial facilities with area exceeding 2,000 sq. m. They should then analyze what part of the building was actually excluded from operation due to trading prohibition and what premises were allowed to conduct business in order to correctly determine the amount of tax liability. Pursuant to Article 24b paragraph 6 of the CIT Act, if a building has been put into use in part, the revenue shall be determined in proportion to the share of the usable floor space put into use in the total usable floor space of that building. The proportion shall be determined on the first day of each month in relation to the initial value of the taxable building resulting from the records kept. – Of course, if 100 percent of the building area was prohibited from running business activities, there will be no taxation on revenues from buildings at all – says Pietranek.

What about smaller centers

Mateusz Pietranek points out that the position of the Ministry of Finance does not apply to owners or co-owners of premises in commercial facilities with an area of ​​less than 2,000 sq. m. The Special Act and Article 15ze do not refer to such centers. So, if a landlord in smaller commercial facilities has agreed rent suspension with a tenant, the tax authorities may decide that the landlord must still pay the tax (provided that the other conditions are met).

The whole article is available in Dziennik Gazeta Prawna: https://gospodarka.dziennik.pl/news/artykuly/7738220,koronawirus-sklep-centrum-handlowe-zamkniecie-podatek-oplata.html 

In today's issue of Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily we will find an article by Marcin Borkowski, Ph.D, in his regular column “Akademia Prawa Gospodarczego” (Academy of Economic Law).

Ordinary meetings of shareholders adopt resolutions on discharge of members of the management boards of their duties. Does the granting of discharge mean that a given board member can no longer be held liable for damages?

Scan of the article can be download below.