The procedure for obtaining an opinion on the WHT tax exemption in Poland is a very important and complicated issue. We explain this problem briefly in our next infographic . If you have more specific questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
From 01/01/2020 the payment of dividends or interest to a related foreign (e.g. German or Dutch) company by a Polish company in the amount above 2.000.000 PLN during a tax year will be taxed at the non-preferential Polish tax rate (19% or 20%). The application of the tax exemption will be possible after obtaining a special opinion from the Polish tax office, i.e. opinion on WHT tax exemption in the following procedure:
- preparation of a formal application by a Polish or foreign company;
- application fee in the amount of 2.000 PLN;
- submitting the application in electronic form to the Polish tax authorities;
- if necessary, completing the application with additional information and documents requested by the Polish tax authorities.
Results:
- obtaining of opinion on the WHT tax exemption:
- opinion is issued within 6 months from the date of application’s receipt by the Polish tax authorities;
- opinion expires after 36 months from the date of its issuing or due to significant changes in the circumstances being the part of the application;
- refusal to issue an opinion on the WHT tax exemption (e.g. due to non-compliance with certain conditions, doubts of tax authorities about some information or documents, tax avoidance): in such case there is a right to appeal against the refusal before the Polish administrative court.

Authors:
Łukasz Dachowski, LL.M., attorney at law (PL)/tax advisor (PL)/Partner
Magdalena Stefaniak-Odziemska, tax advisor (PL)