Dentons (JD Supra Poland)

On May 20, 2021, the Lower House of Parliament adopted the Act (the “Amending Act”) amending the Law of March 2, 2020 on special arrangements for preventing and combating COVID-19, other infectious diseases and the crisis situations caused thereby (the “COVID-19 Act”).

Taxpayers burdened with an additional obligatory tax liability (VAT sanction) due to irregularities in their VAT settlements may apply for refunds of these additional levies on condition that their irregularities were unintentional.

This month we invite you to Poland, where the competition authority has announced a definite tightening of its fines, a tightening that should particularly affect the Polish subsidiaries of foreign groups.

Taxpayers who have been making intra-Community acquisitions of goods and import services after January 1, 2017, who settled VAT on this account after the expiry of the 3-month period provided for in Polish regulations and incurred the burden of interest on VAT due, can now claim their return with interest more easily.

Status – Has any special status been introduced? New safety rules from March 27, 2021. - From February 27, 2021, there is a ban on visors and headscarves, and covering the mouth and nose must be with a mask only.

Cross-border schemes - If, before December 31, 2020, the user performed any activities that are part of a cross-border tax scheme or obtained the resulting tax benefit, the deadline for submitting information on the application of the tax scheme (MDR-3) is April 30, 2021.

The annual value of the Polish public procurement market, i.e. the total value of contracts concluded under the provisions of the Public Procurement Law by central and local government in a single year in Poland, is estimated at over PLN 200 billion (circa US$55 billion).

A Council of Ministers regulation on the maximum volume and value of electric energy from renewable energy sources that may be sold in auctions in 2021 (“Budget Regulation”) was published on December 28, 2020, in the Journal of Laws.

In December 2020, the President of Energy Regulatory Office (“ERO”) announced the results of all auctions for renewable energy sources (“RES auctions”), which were conducted in November and December 2020. Below we present a brief summary of the RES auctions that took place in 2020.

UK-based technology providers cooperating with the Polish banking industry may expect to be asked by their customers for additional documentation by the end of the year. This is a result of the recent letter by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (“PFSA”), which required its approval for all the banks’ UK-based outsourcers.

After many weeks of heated debates over proposed amendments to the income tax system, new regulations were adopted by the Lower Chamber of the Polish Parliament (Sejm) on 28 November 2020, signed into law by the President and published in the Official Journal on 30 November 2020. By and large, they are scheduled to take effect in 2021.

The newly planned changes to the Code of Commercial Companies aim to introduce comprehensive regulation of capital groups (“New Concern Law”) in the Polish legal system. It should be welcomed as desirable modernisation of an already 20 year old Code. It responds to the growing potential of Poland as a domicile for international business, where global players locate increasingly complex corporate...

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a slowdown in legislative work and court judiciary activity in Poland. Without a doubt, most legislative initiatives at present relate to actions to counteract the effects of the pandemic. Below we present an overview of the latest legal changes and proposals in the field of labor law.

As mentioned in our alert of July 17, 2020, the amended Mandatory Disclosure Rules in Poland imposed an obligation to re-report cross-border schemes. Therefore, we would like to remind you of the upcoming reporting dates for these schemes.

COVID-19 has paralyzed the whole world without exception and we are now forced to seek innovative ways to limit its spread. But where do health protection measures end and encroachments of privacy begin? To find out more about the solutions available and their consequences, check out Dariusz Czuchaj's material, as presented at the 4th Annual Privacy & Data Protection Summit. Please see full...

In connection with the dynamically worsening epidemic situation in Poland, on November 6, 2020, the Ministry of Health published a regulation amending the regulation of October 9, 2020 on establishing certain restrictions, orders and prohibitions in connection with the occurrence of a state of epidemic (“Regulation”). The changes introduced by the Regulation will take effect from November 7, 2020

From January 1, 2021, restrictions on the use of abusive clauses in template contracts, associated normally with B2C relations, will also apply to certain B2B relations. This, however, is not the only change regarding consumer protection introduced by the Act of July 31, 2019 on amending of certain acts in order to reduce the regulatory burden. Some B2B customers will also be covered by consumer...

On 19 October 2020, the Act on Amendment to the Act on Special Rules for the Removal of Legal Consequences of Decisions to Return Real Properties in Warsaw Issued in Violation of the Law, the Commercialization and Certain Employee Rights Act and the Real Properties Management Act (the "Act").

On September 16, 2020, the Ministry of Finance published an extensive draft of a significant amendment to the income tax acts. The changes are to apply from 2021. The key draft changes are presented below.

On 15 September 2020 the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) handed down an important judgment concerning “zero-rating”, a practice where providers of Internet access services do not count the data traffic related to use of a specific application or class of applications towards the general data cap offered to end-users as part of an Internet package. The practice of zero-rating has...

The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage published a draft law on 7 September 2020 amending the Broadcasting Act and the Cinematography Act. The aim of the new act is to implement Audiovisual Media Directive 2018/1808 in Poland. The draft also changes the Cinematography Act by introducing new payment obligations on broadcasters with the registered office in European Union countries other...

The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage published a draft law on 7 September 2020 amending the Broadcasting Act and the Cinematography Act. The aim of the new act is to implement Audiovisual Media Directive 2018/1808 in Poland. However, the draft also changes the Cinematography Act by introducing new payment obligations on broadcasters with the registered office in European Union countries...

Distribution of some products boils down to finding as many retail outlets as possible that are willing to put the product on their shelves. Other products sell much better if they have an aura of luxury and exclusivity and the retailer provides an appropriately curated selling environment, bespoke advice, and after-sales services. This is particularly true of luxury goods, which very much depend

As we start a new decade, the forces shaping the European renewables sector are familiar enough, but the longer-term future in each market is becoming harder to predict. State action—for example, in the form of renewables support auctions—remains key. However, the tasks facing governments and regulators are multiplying and becoming more complex, particularly as decarbonization becomes as much a...

On September 4, 2020, information on the plan to amend the CIT and PIT Act was published in the list of legislative works of the Council of Ministers. The draft amendment has not yet been published, but the changes that have been announced are revolutionary and could have a significant impact on corporate taxation in 2021.

As of September 4, 2020, the conditions of employment of employees posted elsewhere to provide services are amended. The deadline for implementing Directive EU 2018/957 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 28, 2018 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of employees in the framework of the provision of services (the “Directive") expired on July 30, 2020. The Act of...

A first draft of the Council of Ministers regulation on the maximum volume and value of electric energy from renewable energy sources that may be sold in auctions in 2021 (“Budget regulation”) was published on 20 August 2020, including the division of funds and quotas into individual auction budgets.

The European Green Deal is a new growth strategy invented to reshape the EU economy. In the eyes of the European Commission, its scale exceed even post-war transformation in the West and post-Soviet transition in the East. The EU believes that is able to turn the urgent challenge of climate change into a unique opportunity to become a digital and green leader of the world. All EU policies and...

Similar to numerous initiatives in Western Europe, as part of the so-called “Anti-Crisis Shield 4.0”, the Polish Parliament adopted legislation amending the Act of July 24, 2015, on the Control of Certain Investments, thus introducing full-fledged foreign direct investment control in Poland. The new law entered into force on July 24, 2020.

Similar to numerous initiatives in Western Europe, as part of the so-called “Anti-Crisis Shield 4.0”, the Polish Parliament adopted legislation amending the Act of July 24, 2015, on the Control of Certain Investments, thus introducing full-fledged foreign direct investment control in Poland. The new law entered into force on July 24, 2020.