The Finance Ministry (“FM”) has published tax guidance of 29 April 2021 on the determination of residence for tax purposes (tax residence) of natural persons in Poland in accordance with Article 3(1a) of the Personal Income Tax Act of 26 July 1991 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1426, as amended; “PIT Act”) and on the scope of the PIT liability under Article 3(1) and 3(2a) of the PIT Act (“FM Guidance”).

According to FM Guidance:

  • centre of personal interests” is the place with which the person is connected by means of strict personal relations. And “personal relations” are to be understood to include, among other things, family ties, social ties, or social, cultural, sporting or political activities;
  • centre of economic interests” is the place with which the person is connected by means of strict economic relations, incuding the place where he carries on his gainful activities or has main sources of income or his investments or real or personal property, or where he has taken out loans or has bank accounts or from where he manages his assets;
  • any partial day spent in Poland should be counted as full day for the purposes of the 183 days limit;
  • the fact that the criteria for Polish residence are listed using the “or” conjunction means that there are practically 3 such criteria.

MF did not overlook to remind the reader of the requirement that tax residence must be determined also using double tax treaties to which Poland is party (“DTT”) and the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting done in Paris on 7 June 2017 (“MLI”), which in consequence affects subsequent DTTs.

FM Guidance is silent on what taxpayers and remitters find a major issue: how to determine tax residence in the context of remote work following epidemic restrictions.

Click the link below to read the full text of FM Guidance (in Polish):

https://www.gov.pl/web/finanse/objasnienia-podatkowe-dotyczace-rezydencji-podatkowej

If this issue pertains to your business and you are interested in our assistance, please contact your WTS&SAJA consultant.

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