Government extends retirement age

On April 20, 2012 the government adopted two drafts of new legislation aimed at reforming the retirement system in Poland. One of the drafts involved the gradual extension of the retirement age from 65 to 67 for men and from 60 to 67 for women. The second draft refers to the limitation of special retirement benefits for employees of uniformed services.

Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty with the CzechRepublic

In the middle of April the Polish president signed an act ratifying a treaty between the Republic of Poland and the Czech Republic on the avoidance of double taxation. The treaty concerns corporate income tax and personal income tax.

Criminal records available online

On April 27, 2012 legislation came into force which amended the Act on National Criminal Records, which contains data of persons who have been sentenced for crimes committed and have no right to appeal. 

The change to the act is to implement the decision 2009/316/WSiSW relating to the establishment of the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS). Moreover, it will be possible to submit motions and requests for information from the National Criminal Records (and replies to them) electronically.

Every Polish citizen or a member of any other EU member state, as well as every person who is or was residing in one of these states, is entitled to submit a motion with a request for information about himself/herself contained in the criminal records of other EU member states.

Credit for payment of dividends is tax deductible

In the opinion of the Supreme Administrative Court (valid judgment of April 3, 2012, court ref. no. II FSK 249/12) when a company gets credit in order to pay a dividend, this should be recognized as a cost connected with business activity conducted by the company. This is pursuant to Article 15 item 1 of the Act on Corporate Income Tax. This is because generating profits is the chief aim of a joint-stock company, and of the shareholders who have bought stock in the company. 

In the opinion of the court, credit contracted by a company for payment of a dividend in a case where the company allocated its profits for development and current activity not only secures the source of income, namely the business activity, but also prevents the company from losing its financial liquidity.

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