MDR reporting in Poland will change from 1 April

On 5 February the Polish Cabinet presented a legislative proposal to the Parliament to amend various statutes, including the Corporate Income Tax Act, the Goods and Services Tax Act, and the Exchange of Tax Information (Other Countries) Act. Among other things, the proposal includes changes to MDR reporting in Poland. The reason for the change is that Polish and EU Mandatory Disclosure Rules (MDR) are not consistent with each other. The new law is to enter into force on 1 April 2020.

Details of the changes

As of 1 April 2020, the NSP numbers (tax scheme numbers) assigned to cross-border schemes will become invalid by law and any such schemes from between 25 June 2018 and 31 March 2020 will have to be reported again.

Compared to the current law regulating MDR reporting in Poland, the retrospective reporting obligation will be extended to helpers (service providers), while now it is incumbent only on beneficiaries (users) and promoters. Cross-border schemes will have to be refiled with the Head of National Revenue Administration (authority):

• by 31 May 2020, if reported by the promoter,
• by 30 July 2020, if reported by the beneficiary,
• by 31 August 2020, if reported by the helper.

Where the reporting obligation is incumbent on more than one entity, the scheme should be refiled by the same entity that originally reported it before the new regulations took effect.

Other key elements of the proposal

Also, any special powers of attorney submitted to the authority will, unless revoked by 31 March 2020, become special powers of attorney enabling the authority to act in all MDR matters. Accordingly, it is advisable to verify your MDR power of attorneys to ensure their scope is as intended by you, as the principal.

In addition, the new law would extend the list of countries and territories considered tax havens. Payments to related entities in tax havens must always be reported to the authority as tax schemes. According to the proposed law on MDR reporting in Poland, not only the Polish list of tax havens will have to be taken into account, but also the EU list of uncooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.

Click here if you would like to read the original article on the homepage of WTS&SAJA Sp. z o.o., the exclusive representative of WTS Global for Poland.

The post Changes to MDR reporting in Poland appeared first on WTS Klient | adótanácsadás | könyvelés | bérszámfejtés | HR szolgáltatások | digitális megoldások | állami támogatások.

Poland as a pioneer regarding DAC6 Directive

Poland has brought forward the transposition date of the DAC6 Directive into Polish legislation. The obligation of reporting tax arrangements has been in force since 1 January 2019, which means 18 months earlier than the deadline of 1 July 2020 required by the DAC6 Directive. Moreover, the Polish Mandatory Disclosure Rules (MDR) legislation is much wider in scope in comparison to the provisions laid down in the EU regulations.

Despite the fact that the Polish act transposes the DAC6 Directive, both acts differ significantly. Under the Polish MDR legislation the obligation of reporting is extended as compared to EU regulations to include not only cross-border arrangements, but also domestic tax arrangements if the taxpayer is a “qualified beneficiary” within the meaning of the law. Furthermore, Poland introduced a few additional hallmarks.

MDR for domestic VAT arrangements

Consequently, the implementation of the DAC6 Directive in Poland imposes some obligations with respect to VAT. If an arrangement concerns only VAT it may fall under the obligation of reporting in Poland as a domestic tax arrangement (cross-border arrangements covering only VAT are not reportable). According to explanations provided by the Polish Ministry of Finance, this obligation does not, however, arise in the case of, e.g.:

• choosing VAT taxation of real estate transactions by waiving voluntary VAT exemption, and
• activities regarding past transactions aimed at proper VAT settlement (VAT compliance)

Dates, deadlines and fines

Tax arrangements which concern only VAT are reportable if the first activity regarding this arrangement was conducted in the period from 1 November 2018 onwards. For those from 2018, the deadline of 30 June 2019 is generally applicable.

Tax arrangements commencing after 1 January 2019 are reportable within 30 days of the day the scheme is made available for the client, ready for implementation or offered, whichever is sooner.

However, the authorities confirmed that delays in complying with reporting obligations under MDR will not have adverse consequences for those required to report, provided full compliance was ensured by 28 February 2018. Importantly, the deferred reporting deadline does not apply to disclosures concerning any time after 29 January 2019. A compliance delay of up to two further months (i.e. where compliance is ensured between 1 March and 30 April 2019) will, however, be treated only as a light infringement.

Any failure to meet a reporting obligation may be subject to a fine of up to PLN 21.6 million (roughly EUR 5 million).

If you would like to know more about implementation of the DAC6 Directive in Poland, please visit the homepage of WTS&SAJA Sp. z o.o., the exclusive representative of WTS Global for Poland.

The post Implementation of the DAC6 Directive in Poland appeared first on WTS Klient | adótanácsadás | könyvelés | bérszámfejtés | HR szolgáltatások | digitális megoldások | állami támogatások.