Revolutionary changes to the Tax Code
On 28 March 2025, a draft amendment to the Tax Ordinance and other tax legislation was published. The proposed changes are systemic in nature – they include provisions on the statute of limitations, remissions and enforcement, as well as fundamental changes to MDR reporting and the activities of tax authorities.
The list of proposed changes is long and applies to a number of legislative acts, so for your convenience we have prepared a summary that provides an insight into some of the most important changes:
Limitation periods and tax liabilities:
- Clarification of when the time limit is extended in a situation where it expires on a Saturday or a public holiday – this change will specifically apply to situations where a liability is time-barred on a Saturday. In this case, the obligation will be time-barred and the authority will not be able to take measures to extend it on Monday.
- Article 70 §8 of the Tax Code has been repealed. The article provided for the “perpetuity” of tax liabilities secured by mortgage or fiscal pledge. Instead, the principle is proposed that the limitation period is interrupted when such security is created – once this is done, the period starts to run again. This means that taxpayers will no longer be exposed to the risk of enforcement e.g. 20 years after the liability arose – which has been the case up to now.
- A new ground for suspending the limitation period – filing a request for correction or supplementation of a decision. The purpose of the amendment is to limit the initiation of proceedings for the correction or supplementation of decisions to suspend the limitation period for tax liabilities.
- New rules for undisclosed sources of income – the limitation period for liabilities arising from the so-called undisclosed sources of income will be calculated from the end of the year following the year in which the tax obligation arose. This change is intended to make the activities of the tax authorities more realistic, as they often identify such income too late. It is also intended to prevent liabilities from becoming time-barred before the authority has had time to issue a decision.
- Limitation of the condition suspending the running of the limitation period – it will only apply to the most serious tax offences only (VAT carousels, false invoices, tax evasion amounting to millions).
Remissions and adjustments:
- Possibility to remit tax before it is due – e.g. as soon as the decision is delivered (property tax). This can be of practical importance in the case of property tax, for example, but also in the case of PIT or CIT prepayments, which are paid in cycles. The change increases the flexibility of the system and may reduce the debt spiral for taxpayers in financial difficulties.
- Requirement to request an overpayment no longer applies – The obligation to separately request a confirmation of an overpayment after filing a corrected tax return has been removed. The authority will be obliged to refund the overpayment ex officio if the correction clearly shows that the tax has been overpaid.
- Increased threshold for payment of tax by a third party – Currently, a third party other than the taxpayer’s spouse, ascendants and descendants, stepchildren, siblings, stepfather, stepmother, the current owner of an item subject to a compulsory mortgage or tax lien may pay tax on behalf of the taxpayer only up to PLN 1,000. There are plans to increase this limit to PLN 5,000.
MDR reporting – new architecture of the system:
- No individual rulings on MDR – There will be no possibility for the Director of National Fiscal Information to issue individual rulings in this respect, as the classification of schemes will be fully taken over by the Head of the National Fiscal Administration.
- New obligations for promoters and beneficiaries – MDR reporting by tax advisers, advocates and legal counsels has been brought in line with the ECJ ruling (C-694/20). However, they will still be required to inform the beneficiary that he/she must complete the reporting himself/herself. In addition, the definition of ‘intermediary’ will be removed and the system itself will be simplified to a promoter-beneficiary relationship.
- Removal of annual submission of MDR-2 and MDR-3 – The obligation to submit the MDR-2, i.e. the notification that the promoter has taken over the reporting obligation, will be removed. MDR-3 will be submitted once a year, with the option to enter the estimated value of the tax benefit.
- The MDR information can be supplemented before and after the tax scheme number has been assigned.
Other organizational changes:
- Clarification of refund rules and the order of crediting payments – resolution of conflicts in installment payment agreements.
- Official correction of returns – the limit increased from PLN 5,000 to PLN 10,000.
- General and non-professional power of attorney holders with increased powers – it is proposed that any general power of attorney holder, not only a professional one, should be entitled notify a change in the scope, revocation or termination of the power of attorney. This change is intended to eliminate outdated information appearing in the Central Register of General POAs.
- New rules of service – alignment with the provisions on electronic service.
Changes in the Fiscal Crime Code and other legislation:
- Changes to penalties in the FCC for failure to comply with MDR obligations – reduction of maximum penalty from 720 to 240 daily rates, new penalties (for late MDR-3 and MDR-4), penalty for failure to submit MDR-4.
- ‘Abstract resolutions’ in the law governing procedure before administrative courts – the Minister of Finance will be empowered to apply to the Supreme Administrative Court for a resolution clarifying interpretative doubts of general nature. This will be a preventive tool aimed at unifying the interpretation of tax law and reducing systemic disputes.
- The electronic Tax Office will be available for a broader group of entities under the National Tax Administration Act – new powers for the organizational units of the Tax Administration and regarding access to data.
KONTAKT
Aleksandra Kalinowska
Partner, Warsaw
E: aleksandra.kalinowska@pl.Andersen.com
T: +48 22 690 08 70
M: +48 724 440 693
Elżbieta Lis
Partner, Katowice
E: elzbieta.lis@pl.Andersen.com
T: +48 32 731 68 58
M: +48 664 948 038
