POLAND

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, August 2024.

• The Polish central bank is the Narodowy Bank Polski: (NBP – www.nbp.pl).
• The NBP is a member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).

Bank supervision

• Polish banks are supervised by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego – www.knf.gov.pl).

•  Item-based charges are applied on payments between resident and non-resident bank accounts.

• DISCLOSED / UNDISCLOSED 

Disclosed programmes represent more than 90% of the total portfolio, both for BNP Paribas Factoring and the wider market. Undisclosed programmes are only offered to highly rated companies. 

• RECOURSE / NON-RECOURSE 

Both recourse and non-recourse programmes are offered. 

• STRUCTURED PRODUCTS 

Reverse factoring is present in the offering but dedicated to well-rated companies only. BNP Paribas Factoring is able to provide very granulated solutions with more than 500 suppliers in one contract. Progressive Line, a modern form combining advantages of financing receivables and client liabilities payments, allows flexible management of client’s funds: both invoice financing and purchase payments. Factoring limit depends on the level of customer receivables and the entire transaction processing is in e-Trade system.

• VAT ‘’SPLIT PAYMENT MECHANISM’’ 

The Polish VAT regulation “split payment” is based on the fact that the payment made by the buyer to the seller for the purchased services or goods is done in two amounts, separately on two accounts of the seller, i.e .: 

- the amount of net receivables – to any account specified by the seller, 

- tax amount – to a dedicated account intended for the purposes of tax settlement (VAT account), while access to funds accumulated on this account will be limited. 

The “split payment” mechanism only applies to settlements in PLN and between VAT taxpayers and gives the debtor freedom to make payments as split ones or not (apart from specified industries in which split payment is mandatory). 

The freedom to dispose of funds accumulated on the VAT account is very limited. By assumption, a taxpayer who has certain resources there will use them to pay his tax liability for VAT. In the case that his tax liability is lower than the amount accumulated on the VAT account, he will be able to apply to the head of the tax office for a refund of the whole or a part of this amount to a regular account with the bank. 

The mechanism is obligatory for selected categories of supplies of goods and services. The mandatory split payment covers payments resulting from invoices for selected goods and services (mentioned in Appendix no. 15 to the VAT Law) exceeding the threshold of PLN 15,000 gross (or equivalent of this amount).

• EXPORT / IMPORT 

Export is mostly managed directly. Active as import factor within FCI whilst export via FCI is considered as an option but applied in very specific cases due to high costs compared to insurance fees. 

• CONCENTRATION REQUIREMENTS 

For high rated debtors, concentration can be increased to up to 100%, while in general it fluctuates between 40%-60%. 

• MAX. PREPAYMENT % 

Funding of receivables 85%-90%, exceptionally up to 100% for some non-recourse contracts. 

• CREDIT COVER % 

Usually 95%, but for well-rated companies 100% is offered. 

• USUAL FUNDING PERIOD 

Generally 60-90 days, up to 180. For Agri companies up to 270 days. 

• OFF-BALANCE SHEET SOLUTIONS 

Available. 

• ON-LINE APPLICATIONS 

Available (e-Trade). 

• DELAYED DUNNING 

Rare. 

• DATA FACTORING 

Data-factoring solution (“Shadow Ledger”) is offered. 

• CURRENCIES OF FINANCE 

PLN, EUR, USD, GBP, SEK, NOK.

• Credit transfers are used by companies to pay salaries and suppliers, and to make tax and treasury payments.
• High-value electronic and paper-based credit transfers with a value greater than PLN 1 million are cleared via SORBNET on a same-day basis.
• High-value and urgent domestic and cross-border (within the euro zone)  credit transfers can be settled in real time via TARGET2-NBP or by the Euro Banking Association’s EURO1 system in which ING Bank Slaski participates.
• High-value, cross-border credit transfers in domestic and other currencies can be processed via SWIFT, correspondent banking and bank branch networks.
• Low-value credit transfers (with a value equal to or below PLN 1 million) are processed via ELIXIR. Settlement is on a same-day or next-day basis. Paper-based credit transfers are truncated into electronic items and settled within two working days.
• PLN-denominated instant payments can be processed through Express ELIXIR. The maximum value threshold is PLN 100,000 for standard payments and 250,000 for tax/fiscal payments.
• Low-value and non-urgent cross-border (within the euro zone) EUR-denominated credit transfers can be settled via Euro-ELIXIR.
• SEPA credit transfers can be settled via STEP2 (through the Euro-ELIXIR system).
• Participants in SEPA clearing can also clear payments bilaterally with participants in the SEPA-compatible Netherlands’s equensWorldline CSS clearing system.
• Approximately 24 banks in Poland participate in the SEPA credit transfer scheme.
• The European Payment Council’s SCT Inst scheme (a pan-European 24/7 instant payment scheme for SEPA credit transfers) enables the transfer of funds (the maximum threshold value is EUR 100,000) to another account in less than ten seconds. There is one participant.
• EBA Clearing and Italy’s SIA Group have developed and implemented a pan-European platform for instant EUR payments called RT1. It is fully compliant with the SCT Insts scheme and is in line with the ISO 20022 global messaging standards for instant payments.
• EBA Clearing has launched a pan-European request to pay (R2P) infrastructure solution with the support of 27 payment service providers from 11 countries. The new 24/7 service is compatible with the SCT and SCT Inst schemes and allows payees to take the initiative to request a specific payment from the payer.
• A new pan-European service for the settlement of instant payments in central bank money, TIPS, was launched on November 30, 2018. The service enables payment service providers and ACHs with access to TARGET2 to offer fund transfers 24/7, 365 days a year. TIPS is aligned with SCT Insts. It is primarily focused on EUR payments but is technically capable of settling payments denominated in other currencies.

• Direct debits are used for regular payments, such as utility bills, but they are not commonplace. The debtor has the right to withdraw consent to making payments by direct debit at any time. A single direct debit may be canceled by a natural person within 56 calendar days from the date of debiting the bank account (B2C). However, other debtors (B2B) can perform such an operation within 5 days.
• Revocable direct debits are available for values up to EUR 1,000 for regular payments and up to EUR 50,000 for payments between companies. The debtor has the right to withdraw consent to making payments by direct debit at any time. A single direct debit may be canceled by a natural person within 56 calendar days from the date of debiting the bank account (B2C). However, other debtors (B2B) can perform such an operation within 5 days.
• Non-revocable direct debits (Gospodarcze Obciążenie Bezpośrednie – GOBI) are available for values above EUR 50,000 for company transactions.
• Direct debits are settled via ELIXIR. KIR, the Polish clearing house.

• Cheques are rarely used in Poland. 

• Card payments, particularly debit cards, are increasingly popular, especially for retail transactions.
• In first quarter of 2024 there were ca. 2,5 billion card transactions, with a value of PLN 298,2 billion.
• At the end of March 2024 there were 45,1 million cards in circulation, of which more than 85% were debit cards.
• Visa and MasterCard-branded cards are the most widely issued.
• First Data Polcard is Poland’s national payment card operator.
• Card payments are settled through the KSR (operated by First Data Polcard) processing centre, Visa's PNNSS processing centre or through MasterCard's EDCSS processing centre. Final settlement takes place via SORBNET or TARGET2.
• Inkart is a local card payment clearing system.
• All cards issued are SEPA-compliant with EMV chips.

• There were 20,869 ATMs in Poland at the end of first quarter of 2024.
• There were over 1.3 million POS terminals in Poland at the end of March 2024.
• First Data Polcard operates the national ATM network.
• The Bankomat 24/Euronet ATM network accepts both domestic and international cards.

• Pre-paid cards are available in Poland but not widely used.
• There were almost 1.7 mln pre-paid cards in circulation at the end of March 2024.
• BLIK is a mobile payments service which enables customers to make payments in stores and online, withdraw cash from ATMs and send P2P transfers with their mobile phones. BLIK is used by 19 banks and has almost 16 million registered customers.
• Other mobile payment schemes such as Apple Pay and Google Pay are available.

• BNP Paribas' Global Trade Solutions (GTS) Sales team in Poland comprises 9 people dedicated to trade finance. The bank takes 1. position in the number of guarantees issued in Poland. The GTS team provides corporates with a high level of both front and back office support, with a full range of traditional trade finance products as well as e-solutions, and continuously works on expanding the GTS offer in line with evolving market conditions. The GTS Business Desk offers  dedicated support for corporates in the issuing of guarantees and letters of credit.

• The EU has trade agreements in place with over 30 countries.
• The EU is currently in free trade negotiations with a number of countries, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, Indonesia, Mercosur (the Southern Common Market), Uruguay, and the USA.
• The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force on 1 May 2021.

Sources: IMF, International Financial Statistics, July 2021.

• Import licences are required for items subject to international export controls.

• Tariffs are set according to the EU customs code for all imports from outside the EU, with higher tariffs for agricultural imports.
• According to Ministry of Finance, there are 14 Special Economic Zones in Poland.

• None 

• None 

• Poland prohibits the import of certain items in line with EU regulations and UN Security Council resolutions.
• Specific imports are prohibited in order to protect fauna and flora, for health and safety or moral reasons, and/or for national security.

• Export licences are required for strategic items (military and dual-use items), radioactive materials, cultural items and drug precursors.

• None 

• None 

• Poland has implemented the EU directive on export credit insurance.
• The Export Credit Insurance Corporation (KUKE), Poland’s national export credit agency, provides state-supported export credit insurance.
• Export credit insurance is also available from private insurance companies.
• Export financing and KUKE covered financing is available from commercial banks.

• Poland prohibits the export of certain items in line with EU regulations and UN Security Council resolutions.

• Poland does not apply exchange controls.
• Permission from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority is required for residents’ investments in non-EEA or non-OECD countries (some exceptions exist where Poland has mutual agreements).
• Restrictions apply to foreign investment in specific areas (the gambling industry, broadcasting, pension funds, and polish airlines and shipping).

• There are no specific rules regarding the taxation of financial instruments. Therefore, general principles should apply.

• Accrued interest is not regarded as a tax-deductible cost until it is paid or remitted.
• The CIT Act indicates some situations where interest is not deductible at all, for example interest accrued or paid to finance an investment in fixed or intangible assets during the investment period.
• Transfer pricing and thin capitalisation rules should be taken into consideration.

• The Polish tax system provides specific rules concerning the settlement of foreign exchange differences. A taxpayer has the choice between tax and accounting methods for calculating foreign exchange differences.
• In general exchange rate differences are treated as taxable revenues/tax-deductible costs.

• Taxpayers may request a ruling on the tax treatment of a specific transaction (two or more interested parties participating in the same transaction may submit one request). If the background presented in the application for a binding tax ruling corresponds to the background covered by a general ruling issued based on the same legislation in force, the Ministry of Finance may issue a decision stating that the general ruling applies.
• The legal protection resulting from a tax ruling will not apply to tax rulings issued before the introduction of the General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) (July 2016), if tax benefits resulting from transactions/actions covered by the tax rulings apply from 1 January 2017. To safeguard tax settlements from application of the GAAR, taxpayers may apply for a protective opinion issued by the Minister of Finance (the deadline for issuing the opinion is six months and the fee for submitting the application for the opinion is PLN 20,000).

• Chargeable capital gains are taxed as a separate source of income at the standard corporate income tax rate of 19%.
• An exemption may be available for venture capital companies (limited liability companies and limited partnerships resident in Poland) on gains from the transfer of shares acquired during 2016-2023 in companies performing R&D activities, provided certain requirements are met. Under certain conditions, some investment funds and alternative investment vehicles also may benefit from an exemption on the sale of shares.

• New withholding tax rules applicable to certain cross-border payments exceeding PLN 2 million per recipient per year have been enacted but entry into force of the new rules has been postponed until June 30, 2021. Under the new rules the payer must withhold tax at the standard rate on the surplus over PLN 2 million at the time of payment unless the payer either (1) provides a statement that a withholding tax exemption or reduced rate is applicable or (2) obtains an opinion that an exemption based on EU directives may be applied. A refund subsequently may be requested from the tax authorities. Payers of income responsible for remitting the tax must exercise appropriate diligence with respect to verifying the grounds for applying exemptions or reduced rates. Beneficial ownership requirements also apply. The Polish Ministry of Finance has issued for public consultation draft explanatory notes on certain practical aspects of the new regulations, including an explanation of beneficial owner and the extent of the due diligence required by those responsible for remitting the tax. However, no final version of this document has been published yet and further changes to the withholding tax regime are expected.
• Dividends paid by a Polish resident company to another resident company generally are not subject to withholding tax.
• Dividends paid to a non-resident are subject to withholding tax at 19%, unless the rate is reduced under a tax treaty or the dividends qualify for an exemption under the EU parent-subsidiary directive, provided the dividend is not related to the transaction (or a set of transactions) undertaken to benefit from a tax exemption and that does not reflect economic reality.
• Interest paid to a resident company is not subject to withholding tax. Interest paid to a non-resident company is subject to a 20% withholding tax, unless the rate is reduced under a tax treaty or the EU interest and royalties directive, provided the interest is not related to a transaction (or a set of transactions) undertaken to benefit from a tax exemption and does not reflect economic reality. An exemption based on the directive may be available only if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the interest. A 19% withholding tax rate generally applies to interest paid to resident and non-resident individuals (unless reduced under a tax treaty).
• Royalties paid to a resident company are exempt from withholding tax. Royalties paid to a non-resident company are subject to a 20% withholding tax, unless the rate is reduced under a tax treaty or the EU interest and royalties directive, provided the royalties are not related to a transaction (or a set of transactions) undertaken to benefit from a tax exemption and does not reflect economic reality. An exemption based on the directive may be available only if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the royalties.
• There is no branch income remittance tax.

Fees for specified intangible services (e.g., advisory, accounting, legal, technical, advertising, data processing, market research, recruiting, management, control services, guarantees, etc) paid to non-residents are subject to a 20% withholding tax (subject to provisions of an applicable tax treaty).

• Poland has exchange of information relationships with 99 jurisdictions through 86 double tax treaties and14 TIEAs.
• Tax treaties may reduce withholding tax to between 0% and 15%.
• To benefit from withholding tax reductions, a certificate of residency is required.
• Poland, as part of the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shift (BEPS) initiative, has signed a multilateral co-operation agreement with 30 other countries (‘the MCAA’). Under this multilateral agreement, information will be exchanged between tax administrations, giving them a single, global picture on some key indicators of economic activity within multinational enterprises (MNE).
• With country-by-country reporting, tax administrations of jurisdictions where a company operates will have aggregate information annually relating to the global allocation of income and taxes paid, together with other indicators of the location of economic activity within the MNE group. It will also cover information about which entities do business in a particular jurisdiction and the business activities each entity engages in. The information will be collected by the country of residence of the MNE group, and will then be exchanged through exchange of information supported by such agreements as the MCAA. First exchanges under the MCAA started in 2017–18 on 2016 information.

• Deductions of debt financing costs that exceed interest or “interest-type” income are limited to 30% of “tax EBITDA” (as defined for purposes of the thin capitalization rules) and/or PLN 3 million in a fiscal tax year. The limitation applies to all “debt financing costs” (interest, arrangement fees, etc.) on financing granted by both related and nonrelated entities. Disallowed deductions may be carried forward for five years, with some exceptions.

• The Polish transfer pricing rules generally follow the OECD guidelines and if prices in related party transactions are not in accordance with the arm’s length principle, the tax authorities may make an adjustment. Generally, two entities are considered related parties if one entity exercises effective influence over the other (e.g. by owning, directly or indirectly, at least 25% of its shares) or if the same entity exercises influence over both of them.
• Certain transfer pricing documentation must be prepared for related party transactions exceeding a certain threshold in a tax year (PLN 10 million for uniform transactions including tangible goods or financial transactions, PLN 2 million for uniform transactions including services and other types of transactions, and PLN 100,000 for transactions with entities located in a country that engages in “harmful tax practices”). As from 2020, domestic transactions may be excluded from transfer pricing documentation requirements if certain conditions are met.
• Taxpayers whose consolidated revenues exceeded the equivalent of EUR 750,000,000 in the preceding tax year also must produce a “county-by-country report,” which contains additional information about the income and tax paid by group subsidiaries, their places of conducting business as well as their permanent establishments.
• All taxpayers obliged to prepare transfer pricing need to submit a statement confirming that they have the compliant transfer pricing documentation available and that the covered transactions were concluded at arm’s length. Late submission, failure to submit, or submission of false statement may result in penalties charged to the members of the management board. Taxpayers also may be required to prepare and submit a simplified report on related party transactions (TP_R form)..
• Transfer pricing documentation requirements also apply to taxpayers conducting business operations in forms not having legal personality (e.g. partnerships).
• Mandatory disclosures rules apply to both cross-border and domestic arrangements. The obligation to report “marketable” (repeatable) tax planning schemes falls principally on the intermediary and is performed on a no-names basis provided the intermediary is compelled to secrecy obligation is not lifted by the taxpayer. “Bespoke” (i.e. tailor-made) schemes are reportable by the taxpayer, unless the intermediary’s secrecy obligation under legal professional privilege is lifted or the intermediary is not entitled to invoke a legal professional privilege.
• Corporation taxpayers whose revenue exceeds EUR 50 million in a tax year and tax capital groups must prepare and disclose information on the execution of their tax strategy. The deadline is nine months after the deadline for submitting the corporation tax return. Based on informal explanations from the Polish Ministry of Finance, taxpayers are required to prepare and publish 2020 information by December 31, 2021.
• Advance pricing agreements are permitted.

• Stamp duty is levied, for example, when filing a power of attorney and when central or local authorities are requested to perform activities such as issuing certificates, grant permission, etc.
• The applicable rates or fixed amounts are set forth in the stamp duty law.

• The Polish tax system does not include specific tax rules for cash pooling arrangements.
• Tax treatment may vary, depending on the type of cash pooling arrangements adopted.

• No specific financial transactions and/or services tax applies to services, loans, money transfers, letters of credit and/or foreign exchange, etc.

All tax information supplied by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Deloitte Highlight 2021 (www.deloitte.com).