Month: October 2020

The Wrocław Branch of the Polish Association of Developers (PZFD) initiated cooperation with the GWW law firm, which belongs to the largest and best law firms in Poland. Signing of the partnership agreement is in line with the PZFD strategy, in which educating of all stakeholders in the development market plays an important role.

Decisions we take in the investment process require awareness of currently existing conditions and moving with certainty in the area of ​​dynamic changes in legislation – not only in the current, very demanding time. Regular consultations, education and advice from GWW experts will give us this opportunity. – says Tomasz Stoga, President of the Wrocław Branch of the Polish Association of Developers in and President of the Management Board of Profit Development S.A. As emphasized by Paweł Wójcik, head of the real estate trading practice at GWW – The trust of an industry organization associating over 200 largest development companies in Poland is a great honor for us. Joint activities to improve the investment process and active participation in the creation of good legislation is the goal that we have a chance to achieve together – adds Joanna Sebzda-Załuska, head of the Investment process practice at GWW.

The partnership between GWW and the Wrocław branch of PZFD does not limit the area of ​​cooperation only to the capital of Lower Silesia. The regional branch of the Association is the organizer of one of the largest housing market events in Poland – the Developer Days conference, which during each edition gathers several hundred representatives of the industry and its stakeholders from all over Poland. Periodic training, exchanges of experiences, analyzes – everything that PZFD plans to implement within the framework of the partnership with GWW is focused on broad education of the development industry.

Starting from June 2019, the Act on Shaping the Agricultural System no longer covers agricultural properties located within administrative boundaries of towns with an area of ​​less than 1 ha. However, it is still a significant obstacle in planning new investments. The Act was subject to numerous amendments in recent years and new legal acts often raised doubts.

On 27 February 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the National Center for Agricultural Support and the National Council of Notaries issued a common position on the practical application of the Act on Shaping the Agricultural System. It is of no formal legal effect, but it will undoubtedly have some impact on the practice of trading, just like similar positions issued in previous years.

Tomasz Wojtczak, a trainee attorney at law in the real estate practice of GWW, writes about what results from the issued “position” on the practical application of the Act on Shaping the Agricultural System on the legal portal.

Link to the publication: http://lexplorers.pl/mniej-niejasnosci-w-obrocie-nieruchomosciami-rolnymi/ 

From Monday, the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) and voivodeship administrative courts located in the red zone adjudicate in camera. This may speed up consideration of complaints, but also deprive parties of professional arguments of their representatives, which may be priceless to the outcome of the case.

COMMENTARY by KAMIL SZCZĘSNY

– I consider the fact that most of the cases, often against the will of the parties, will be handled in closed session as quite negative. The lack of a hearing deprives – especially the applicant party – of the last chance to invoke arguments aimed at challenging decisions of the administrative authorities. Thus, the party is prevented from saying the “last word”, often of key importance to determination of the wording of judgment, says Kamil Szczęsny, attorney at GWW.

My experience shows that as regards a significant number of cases in respect of which the voivodeship administrative courts dismissed complaints in closed sessions, cassation appeals were considered as justified at the hearing held by the Supreme Administrative Court.

– Therefore, in my professional practice, as a rule, I do not submit applications for consideration of a case in closed session, since I believe that this has influence on the quality of settlement of the case. In the existing situation, since the parties often waited even three years for the case to be heard before the Supreme Administrative Court, these additional three or four months should not be an argument for considering the case in a simplified procedure, especially against the will of the parties – emphasizes Kamil.

An article with our expert's comment was published in the portal Prawo.pl: https://www.prawo.pl/podatki/rozpatrywanie-spraw-podatkowych-w-trybie-niejawnym-w-czasie,503914.html

It turns out that it is worth referring unfavorable decisions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). A report recently published by Editors of LEX Electronic Publication shows that as many as 70% of judgments in Polish cases adjudicated by the Tribunal were favorable for taxpayers. Many of them are of importance for the application of law.

COMMENTARY by Małgorzata Militz 
Requests for a preliminary ruling in the field of VAT (which represented a majority among all requests submitted by national administrative courts) also led to changes in legislation; examples include judgments issued in the cases of A. Sosnowska, Magoora, Kozuba Premium Selection, Aviva, the Municipality of Wrocław. Some of the judgments also issued led to changes in the practice of tax authorities, specifying correct understanding of certain terms (BGZ Leasing, Wojskowa Agencja Mieszkaniowa, Kuć i Sły, Budimex). Words of praise should be referred not only to national administrative courts, but also to legal representatives, who due to their determination “inspire” adjudicating panels to submit requests for a preliminary ruling.

Małgorzata Militz, a GWW tax advisor and partner managing the VAT procedure practice, is one of the most successful representatives of taxpayers in disputes before the CJEU.

A whole article by Krzysztof Koślicki with the commentary of our expert is available in the portal Prawo.pl: https://www.prawo.pl/podatki/wyroki-tsue-w-sprawach-podatkowych-korzystne-dla-podatnikow,503888.html

Photo:https://consumergoods.blogactiv.eu/tag/cjue/ 

Regulations of the Code of Commercial Companies and Partnerships directly allow challenging resolutions of the company's meeting of shareholders. However, the supervisory board – as a collective body of the company – may also adopt its own resolutions. Can they also be challenged in court?

We will find an article by Marcin Borkowski, Ph.D., on the pages of today's Economic Law Academy of Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. 

Link to download the material is available below.

Limited partnerships may transform into general partnerships and real estate partnerships may include suitable clauses in their articles. Delaying such actions may result in additional tax burden.

Many partners of limited partnerships – and there are approximately 40 thousand such partnerships – may look for solutions that will allow them to legally avoid double taxation, at the partnership and the partner level. Possibilities of transformations are discussed by CIT experts: Mateusz Pietranek and Aneta Skowron.

Our experts' comments can be found in Łukasz Zalewski's article in Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Link to the article: https://podatki.gazetaprawna.pl/artykuly/1493870,zmian-w-pit-i-cit-spolki-komandytowe.html 

We have the pleasure to announce successes of our colleagues.

• Rafał Kacprowski from the tax reporting outsourcing team has passed the tax advisor exams and has already been entered on the list of tax advisors.
• Ludwik Malisz from the real estate team has passed the exam that will allow him to start his adventure as a trainee attorney-at-law.

Congratulations and we wish you further successes in your careers!

On 14 September this year, members of the Award Committee of the 16^th edition of The Andrzej Woyciechowski Radio ZET Award nominated eleven journalistic materials, including: six articles and series of press articles, two TV reports, two Internet publications, and one radio interview. The winners will be announced on 25 November this year during an official gala ceremony. 

The Andrzej Woyciechowski Radio ZET Award is one of the most prestigious awards in the journalistic world in Poland. It is awarded to authors of journalistic materials which, according to the Award Committee, break stereotypes, go beyond limits and look behind scenes of the reality surrounding us. It aims at honoring journalists for their courage in reaching the truth and discovering what was previously hidden or understated. It was awarded for the first time in 2005.

More information about the nominations and the Andrzej Woyciechowski Radio ZET Award: https://newsroom.eurozet.pl/112581-nominacje-do-nagrody-woyciechowskiego-2020 

On 13 November 2020 in Praha, Czech Republic, a Seminar on International Trust Law: Six Years of the Trust Law in the Czech Republic – Trusts in Practice and International Comparison will be held.

Tomasz Krzywański, attorney-at-law from the GWW Private Client Team, will be a speaker at the Seminar and will present the DAC 6 Directive from Polish perspective. Tomasz will also take part in the panel: Practical Examples of Use of Trusts. 

Organizers: STEP (The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), Czech law firm Holubová advokáti, Czech Bar Association.

More information can be downloaded in the pdf attached.

On 28 September this year, an online conference entitled: Industry 4.0 – manufacturing industry and its challenges was held. During the event, experts shared their knowledge and skills in the field of modern manufacturing management methods with participant . 

Piotr Świstak, attorney, director of the Rzeszów branch, was a speaker at the conference and discussed tax reliefs in production plants, including:

• tax relief for research and development (R&D)
• IP Box relief
• robotization relief

The event was organized by the Polish Institute of Business Development. More information is available at: http://pirbinstytut.pl/index.php/przemysl-4-0-online