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Paweł Szymański |
Effective from February 1 2016, Poland is introducing a new law covering a 'financial institutions tax' (FIT) that will be charged on certain kinds of assets of financial institutions operating in Poland.
The tax will be paid by the financial and insurance institutions including domestic banks, Polish branches of foreign banks, Polish branches of credit institutions, cooperative saving and loan unions, consumer credit institutions, domestic insurers and reinsurers as well as Polish branches of foreign insurers and reinsurers.
The new legislation imposes an obligation to pay a monthly tax of 0.0366% on the value of the taxpayer's assets over the thresholds provided for given kinds of financial institutions. It must be noted that the thresholds may also apply to the whole group of related entities.
The due tax will be calculated on the value of given assets reported at the end of each settlement month based on the taxpayer's accounting books maintained according to Polish or international standards. The tax base may be decreased by value of selected assets, for example assets constituting Polish treasury securities.
The FIT is subject to certain exemptions: for example, state banks and financial institutions subject to reorganisation programmes regulated by specific banking and insurance regulations will not be obliged to pay the tax.
Taxpayers within the scope of the FIT are obliged to submit the required tax return, calculate and pay the due tax to the relevant tax office by the 25th of the next month. The first tax settlement period for which taxpayers will be obliged to pay the due tax is February 2016.
The new legislation amends the provisions regarding the corporate income tax in Poland, excluding FIT from tax-deductible costs. The new legislation also provides regulation according to which the introduction of FIT cannot affect the conditions of the banking and insurance services provided under agreements concluded before February 1 2016.
Paweł Szymański (pawel.szymanski@mddp.pl)
MDDP
Tel: +48 22 322 68 88
Website: www.mddp.pl
