Pregnancy register: Surveillance tool or technological advance?
Convenient access to full medical records is an important goal, but it cannot be pursued contrary to the GDPR and the Constitution. Liability for use of beneficiary’s data for non-medical purposes should also be regulated.
New quality in healthcare? The Ministry of Health proposes changes
On 22 July 2021, the Ministry of Health published a draft Act on Quality in Healthcare and Patient Safety. The stated purpose of the bill is to implement legal and organisational solutions to improve the quality of healthcare in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. What will change and to what extent?
Polish Whistleblowing Act: What should employers expect?
Protection of all categories of staff, including job candidates and former employees. A broad range of infringements subject to reporting. Protection of whistleblowers against all retaliatory measures, including defamation suits. A duty to establish internal whistleblowing procedures. These are just a few of the points included in the guidelines for the bill implementing the EU’s Whistleblower Directive.
Transfer pricing: The next amendment
A revised bill to amend tax regulations as part of the “Polish Deal” has been submitted to the parliament. How do the proposals involving transfer pricing look now?
Holding law: Proposed amendment to the Commercial Companies Code
On 2 September 2021, a government bill to amend the Commercial Companies Code and other acts was submitted to the Sejm for a first reading. Among other things, the bill would introduce new principles into the Polish legal system in the form of a holding companies law, regulating the cooperation between parent companies and their subsidiaries. The rules for liability of management board and supervisory board members are also to be amended, vesting broader powers in supervisory boards to make corporate governance more effective.
Liability for binding instructions in the proposed holding law
According to the government bill to amend the Commercial Companies Code, a parent company could issue binding instructions to a subsidiary if justified by the interest of the corporate group and not barred by specific regulations. The new powers of a parent company are balanced by provisions regulating its liability for injury caused in connection with issuing binding instructions.
The amended mechanism for extended producer responsibility—part I
In August, the long-awaited bill to amend the Packaging and Packaging Waste Management Act was published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre. The aim of the regulation is to implement the new EU provisions on extended producer responsibility for packaging waste. Below, we present the most important features of the new system and attempt to evaluate them.
Proposed changes in transfer pricing regulations
Transfer pricing regulations have been included in the package of proposed changes to tax law implementing the political programme known as the Polish Deal. Some of these changes respond to market expectations and deserve applause. Others will complicate taxpayers’ lives. Here we examine the proposed solutions.
The Polish Deal: Consolidation relief and changes in tax treatment of debt financing costs
The proposed tax changes under the Polish Deal programme enshrine in law a method of calculating the debt financing cost limit which is disadvantageous for taxpayers. They offer a carrot to buyers of shares in the form of a deduction from the tax base of qualified expenditures on the acquisition of shares as part of consolidation relief, but also a stick in the form of a complete ban on treating interest on debt financing obtained from related parties for the acquisition of shares as a tax-deductible cost.
Preferences for PIT payers investing in alternative investment companies and new conditions for the tax exemption for AICs from 2022
The bill published on 26 July 2021 to amend the Personal Income Tax Act, the Corporate Income Tax Act and certain other acts, known as the Polish Deal, provides payers of personal income tax with a new preference to encourage investments in ventures carrying high economic risk. The proposed relief is intended to apply to certain investments by PIT payers in an alternative investment companies or their subsidiaries.
Proposed changes would increase tax burdens on top earners
One of the flagship elements of the political programme called the “Polish Deal” is changes in personal income tax and social insurance contributions. This will lead to a drastic increase in the burden on top earners, especially business operators.
Benefits for people returning from abroad, tax holidaymakers, and tax optimisers coming in from the cold
A comprehensive overhaul of Polish tax law is expected. The proposed changes would implement the Law & Justice government’s programme known as the “Polish Deal.” Some of these changes are intended to make the tax system more attractive to new taxpayers. Others are designed to encourage taxpayers who have used optimisation schemes in the past to put their tax affairs in order.
