Local tax interpretations to be issued centrally in Poland; draft law published

Poland is preparing to overhaul how local tax interpretations are handled, shifting the power from thousands of municipal authorities to a single national body. A government legislative work program announced a change to tax law that will centralize the issuance of interpretations concerning local taxes and fees. Currently, around 2,500 local government bodies, including mayors and city presidents, issue these documents. Under the proposed reform, the director of the National Revenue Information (KIS) will assume this responsibility.

While the KIS will issue the final interpretations, local municipalities will still have a voice. The relevant municipal authority will be consulted and will have 14 days to provide feedback on the draft interpretation. If no response is received within this period, it will be considered tacit consent from the local government. The exact procedures for communication between the KIS and municipalities are yet to be detailed, but a logical approach would involve the KIS consulting the municipality where a property is located when a taxpayer seeks an interpretation related to that specific property.

The Ministry of Finance assures that this centralization will not diminish the municipalities' statutory powers regarding the assessment, collection, or control of local taxes. However, municipalities will retain the right, in certain cases, to challenge a KIS-issued interpretation in administrative court. This could temporarily suspend the legal protection afforded to the taxpayer who obtained the interpretation, reinstating it only if the municipality's appeal is ultimately unsuccessful. The reform, slated for implementation on July 1, 2027, aims to eliminate discrepancies in interpretations for similar cases and streamline the process for taxpayers who own property across different municipalities, allowing them to pursue a single central procedure instead of multiple local ones.

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Projektowane rozwiązanie nie ograniczy ustawowych uprawnień gminnych organów podatkowych w zakresie wymiaru (np. określania stawek podatku, zwolnień z podatku), poboru czy kontroli w odniesieniu do podatków i opłat lokalnych