Key changes in income taxes and inheritance and gift tax
The Council of Ministers has adopted further draft laws included in the deregulation package. Among them are two bills providing for changes in income taxes and inheritance and gift tax. They were referred for the first reading at the Polish Parliament on May 21, 2025. According to the drafts, the new income tax regulations are to take effect on January 1, 2026, while the changes in inheritance and gift tax are to take effect 14 days after the date of publication in the Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland.
The proposed changes to income taxes include:
1. Introduction of an alternative method of tax refund in the event of revocation of a decision on support (DoW) or revocation of a permit – for taxpayers with more than one decision on support or more than one permit (or decisions and permits). The proposed amendment stipulates that if a taxpayer has more than one support decision or more than one permit, he can refund the unpaid tax on the income earned from the economic activity specified in the revoked permit or revoked DoW.
The condition for taking advantage of this solution is to keep a ledger – in accordance with separate regulations – in a way that makes it possible to separate the income from this specific activity and determine the amount of unpaid tax due.
2. Limitation of the obligation to file information on the partners of a general partnership in the event of a change in the composition of the partners and their shares. Currently, general partnerships that are not owned solely by individuals must file information on their partners every year. The new regulations provide for the abolition of this obligation in cases where the composition of partners in a general partnership has not changed.
3. Repeal of the sanction of tax capital groups (PGK) losing their CIT status if they engage in controlled transactions with non-group related parties under non-market conditions. Currently, if a PGK makes such a transaction on non-market terms with a related party outside the group, it automatically loses its CIT taxpayer status. After the change, the PGK will not lose its CIT taxpayer status for this reason.
Importantly, the obligations under the transfer pricing regulations, i.e. the obligation to establish transfer prices on terms that unrelated parties would establish among themselves, and the obligation to prepare transfer pricing documentation to demonstrate that transfer prices were established on terms that unrelated parties would establish among themselves, are not abolished. Only the sanction regarding the loss of PGK status is abolished.
Proposed changes to the inheritance and gift tax include:
1. Simplification and unification of tax accounting rules for the acquisition of recurring benefits, such as annuities. If the object of acquisition will be a property right that includes an obligation to provide such benefits, and their total value for the entire duration of the obligation is known at the time of their establishment, the tax obligation will arise at the time of their establishment. The value of the benefits will be determined as the sum of the benefits for the entire period of their duration, and if they have been established for an indefinite period – for a period of 10 years.
2. The obligation to submit a certificate of tax payment or exemption to the notary will be abolished. This certificate will not be required if the property disposed of or encumbered was acquired free of charge in the form of a notarial deed or came from persons in the immediate family.
* * *
If you would like to discuss the issues raised in the alert, please feel free to contact us – we will be happy to explain how the changes may affect you.