Market due

Market due is levied on individuals, legal persons and non-corporate bodies that sell in marketplaces. Market due is not applied to sales in buildings or their parts.

Marketplaces are understood as all venues where sales are carried out.

Exemption from market due is granted to taxable persons that pay property tax in connection with the objects of taxation situated in the marketplaces.

Visitor tax

Visitor tax is levied on individuals who stay for more than one day for tourist, leisure or training purposes:

1) in localities with favourable climatic characteristics, landscape values and specific conditions which make it possible to stay there for such purposes;
2) in localities in areas that have been granted the status of health resort protection area on the conditions laid down in the Act on Health Resort Services, Health Resorts, Health Resort Protection Areas and Health Resort Gminas.

- for each day of stay in such localities.

Visitor tax will undoubtedly be revenue expenditure if it is incurred in connection with travel for training purposes related to the business, whether the trainee is the entrepreneur or it is their employees who are trained.

Health resort tax

If it is necessary to prove that health resort tax has been debited to costs, one should follow the same procedure as is applied to visitor tax.

Health resort tax is levied on individuals who stay for more than one day for health, tourist, leisure or training purposes in localities in areas that have been granted the status of a health resort on the conditions laid down in the Act dated 28 July 2005 on Health Resort Services, Health Resorts, Health Resort Protection Areas and Health Resort Gminas. The tax is levied for each day of stay in such localities.

Note: No visitor tax is levied on persons on whom health resort tax is levied.

Stamp duty

Stamp duty applies:

1) in individual cases in the field of public administration:

a) for performance of an official act based on an application or request;
b) for issue of a certificate on request;
c) for issue of authorisation (permit, licence).

2) to the submission of a document confirming power of attorney or commercial representation, or its copy extract or duplicate – in a case in the field of public administration or in judicial proceedings.

Stamp duty also applies to performance of an official act, issue of a certificate and authorisation (permit) by an entity other than a central or local government authority, in connection with public administration tasks, as well as to the submission to such entity of a document confirming power of attorney or commercial representation, or its copy, extract or duplicate.

Obligations, exemptions, and a precise determination of the stamp duty object are governed by the Act on Stamp Duty. Since the Act contains a number of subjective and objective exemptions and exclusions, I encourage you to read it.

Entrepreneurs pursuing a business activity will mostly pay stamp duty on acts related to:

a) issue of decisions and permits related to investment activities;
b) issue of decisions and permits related to environmental protection;
c) issue of decisions, permits, promises, etc. related to permits and licences to pursue a regulated and licensed business activity;
d) issue of duplicates of official documents;
e) provision of information about other business entities.

Perhaps the most frequent official act to which stamp duty applies is the issue of a tax clearance certificate or a tax arrears certificate. Then the duty is paid on each copy of the certificate.

Note: When a certificate the issue of which is not subject to stamp duty is used in a case which is subject to the duty, then the obligation to pay does arise.

The amount of stamp duty varies considerably. The assumption is that it should cover the cost of issuing the document required.

Stamp duty payers

The obligation to pay stamp duty is imposed on individuals, legal persons and non-corporate bodies, if their application or request results in an official act, or if a certificate or authorisation (permit, licence) is issued pursuant to their request; in the case of commercial representation (power of attorney, authority), the obliged payer will be a principal, an attorney, an entrepreneur or a commercial representative.

If an act that is subject to stamp duty is performed based upon a joint request (as a result of a joint application) of more than one entity, then the payment obligation is joint and several. If one party is subjectively exempt from stamp duty, then the obligation to pay rests jointly and severally with the remaining parties to the act in question.

The time at which stamp duty becomes chargeable

The obligation to pay stamp duty arises:
1) if applicable to an official act – upon making an application or submitting a request for an official act;
2) if applicable to the issue of a certificate – upon submission of a request for a certificate;
3) if applicable to the issue of an authorisation (permit, licence) – upon submission of a request for an authorisation (permit, licence);
4) if applicable to the submission of a document confirming power of attorney or commercial representation, or its copy, extract or duplicate – upon filing the document with a public administration authority, court or another entity authorised to accept the document.

If in a case that is subject to stamp duty, a certificate is used that has been issued for a case that is not subject to the duty, the obligation to pay arises when the certificate is used.
The Act provides that stamp duty is payable at the time when it becomes chargeable. In practice, entities that issue decisions, authorisations, etc. will refuse to accept documents, if no proof of stamp duty payment is provided.
Stamp duty is paid at the cashier's office of a relevant tax authority or to its bank account.

Refund of stamp duty

In some situations, stamp duty will be refunded. Refunds are always based on a taxable person's request. It is not enough for the duty to be refunded if a circumstance occurs that justifies the refund. In addition, it should be noted that the duty is not refundable after five years from the end of the year in which the payment was made.

The duty is refundable:
1) if applicable to an official act – if no official act has been performed in spite of the payment;
2) if applicable to the issue of a certificate or authorisation (permit, licence) – if no certificate or authorisation (permit, licence) has been granted in spite of the payment.