project | In Principle

A lot has been published on the harmful effects on the construction industry of the legal solutions proposed in the draft Act on Prevention of Abuses in Road Projects. A disadvantage of the concept of protection of local subcontractors presented by the Ministry of Justice may be to severely limit the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways’ external financing of projects.

At the end of August 2018, the Ministry of Finance announced future significant changes in the most important tax acts. These changes are to enter into force at the beginning of 2019. We wrote about some of these here last week. Now we present further changes proposed by the Ministry of Finance, as published in the draft act of 24 August 2018 amending the Personal Income Tax Act, the Corporate Income Tax Act, the Tax Ordinance and other acts, which might be particularly important for taxpayers conducting business activity.

Major changes to the Road Transport Act are in the pipeline. The changes are intended to regulate the activities of firms that act as go-betweens in passenger services, for instance by providing mobile applications or computer software.

The Polish government is currently working on a completely new tax regime applicable to income from trading in cryptocurrencies (virtual currencies) for personal income tax and corporate income tax purposes. For PIT purposes, this income is to be taxed as income from cash capital at the rate of 19% regardless of whether the turnover is of a private nature or made in the course of business activity. For CIT purposes, the income from trading in cryptocurrencies will be classified as capital gains. These new rules would apply from 1 January 2019.

On 17 April 2018 the European Commission announced a proposed directive protecting whistleblowers. The aim is to establish minimum standards for protection of persons uncovering irregularities or violations of EU law, and to unify the law of the member states in this area.

Work has begun on the government’s side on a bill amending the Waste Act and certain other acts. The provisions are a reaction to disturbing reports of waste entering Poland illegally and landfill fires which are hazardous, reported by the media in recent weeks.

On 7 June 2018 the Government Legislation Centre published a proposal for amendment of the Environmental Protection Inspectorate Act and certain other acts on its website. Under the proposal, the Environmental Protection Inspectorate’s powers would be substantially broadened and administrative fines provided for in environmental laws increased.

A bill has been submitted to the Sejm proposing major changes to the procedure for classification of objects or substances as by-products. If the amendment is passed, this will have a negative impact on anybody who uses such products in their activity. All classifications of objects or substances as by-products performed under the current laws will expire six months after the new bill comes into force.

Recent media reports have claimed that a bill being considered by the US Congress would allow Jewish organisations to seek compensation for so-called heirless property and make other claims under the 2009 Terezin Declaration. While such fears are entirely imaginary, they represent a good opportunity to examine the Terezin Declaration and the state of its implementation in Poland.

The issue of Jewish heirless property is the most controversial aspect of the debate over finding a comprehensive regulatory solution for reprivatisation in Poland. The general legal principle calling for reversion of property to the state (escheat) if the owner dies without heirs is of little practical assistance in these matters.

Work is underway on the Act on Transparency of Public Life, which would introduce numerous solutions not previously encountered in the Polish legal system. The aim of the proposed act is to increase the transparency of management and control over publicly financed institutions, and to reinforce anticorruption mechanisms in Poland.

The General Data Protection Regulation entering into force on 25 May 2018 is not the only privacy revolution in store for the EU. The proposed ePrivacy Regulation is also generating greater and greater controversy and may change the shape of the internet as we know it.