14th Ranking of Tax Companies and Advisors by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily

In today's issue of Dziennik Gazeta Prawna we will find the results of the 14^th Ranking of Tax Companies and Advisors. GWW's tax practice, owing to last year's achievements, won in the category of tax disputes. Our experts in VAT and local taxes were awarded the title of Top Tax Advisors in 2019.

TOP TAX ADVISORS

1^st place ex aequo in the VAT category was awarded to Małgosia Militz

In the justification of the decision, we can read:
Małgorzata Militz represented taxpayers in the Budimex case, which ended with a judgment of the CJEU, followed by a judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court. The judgment of the CJEU was crucial for the construction industry. It also influenced the shape of the jurisprudence of Polish administrative courts. This was not her only success in proceedings before the courts, Małgorzata Militz also won several other litigation regarding VAT, such as abuse of law in VAT issues and the application of a criminal judgment in a tax case, clearing the path for other taxpayers.

Kamil Szczęsny won the 3^rd place ex aequo in the category of local taxes (another year in a row on the podium)

THE LARGEST TAX ADVISORY COMPANIES 

In the ranking of the largest tax advisory companies of 2019, GWW took 8^th place in the category.

THE BEST TAX ADVISORY COMPANIES 

GWW won the title of the best tax advisory company ex aequo in the category of tax disputes.

Justification for the decision along with a description of selected achievements:
GWW law firm represented taxpayers in a famous winning case before the CJEU in the Budimex case (C-224/18). Let us remind that the question referred for a preliminary ruling concerned the determination of the time when the construction service was carried out, relevant to the determination of the moment when the tax obligation arose in terms of VAT. From 1 January 2014, tax authorities and courts were of the opinion that the moment of completion of such a service was the moment of actual performance of the activity, regardless of when – according to the contract – works were taken over. The CJEU changed this approach. It questioned the position of the tax authorities and courts, which marked a breakthrough for the construction industry. The Court specified criteria that should be taken into account when determining the date of “completion” of a construction service. The Supreme Administrative Court also complied with these guidelines (file reference number I FSK 65/17), deciding that in the situation which was the subject of the dispute, the date of “completion” for VAT purposes was a later date than the actual date of the service performance. 

GWW also represented a taxpayer in a case in which the Supreme Administrative Court adopted a resolution (file reference number II FPS 1/19). In practice, the Company was represented by four representatives: Andrzej Ladziński from GWW, Tomasz Siennicki from KNDP, Grzegorz Flisiak from Głuchowski, Siemiątkowski, Zwara law office, and Aleksandra Kosmol – Marchelek from Modrzejewski i Wspólnicy law office. The Supreme Administrative Court decided in the resolution that the limitation begins to run at the end of the year and therefore declaration of bankruptcy did not interrupt the running of the limitation period. The Supreme Administrative Court fully shared the argument of Andrzej Ladziński, a GWW tax advisor and partner, that contrary to the previous views of the doctrine, it can be concluded from Article 12 (1) of the Tax Code that the limitation period begins to run at the end of the year. A later judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court meant significant tax benefits for the Company . 

Another landmark case led by GWW advisors was the case relating to refusal of the right to deduct input tax on the purchase of trademark rights, on grounds of the VAT abuse clause. The Supreme Administrative Court stated that VAT abuse can only be considered, when the tax benefit is obtained in VAT. The GWW tax team also won in many other cases before administrative courts.

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