What goes on in Poland on the 11th of August.
President signed a bill to overhaul of the National Tax Authoritiese
President Andrzej Duda signed the Act on the tax ordinance, the Act on public finances as well as regulations that introduced the bill on the National Tax Authorities (KAS). Its goal is to order the relations between KAS and other structures which are part of the Ministry of Finance.
On Thursday, the Chancellery of the President informed the President had signed on Wednesday the Act of 20 June 2017 amending the Act on the tax ordinance, Act on public finance and Act on regulations introducing the act on the National Tax Authorities.
The goal of the new regulations is to streamline KAS. One of the new rules eliminates the necessity to automatically direct a question from a director of KAS to KAS’s president when an individual tax interpretation is needed. This pertains to situations where KAS had previously dealt with the same case and already formed its position on the issue.
The amendment also changes the rules for IT management of the Register of Fiscal Pledges and excludes the obligation to ask the General Counsel to the Republic of Poland when the Ministry of Finance makes decisions on financing some of the credit needs. It also determines that KAS’s budget will be separated from the state budget as late as 1 January 2019.
President signed the bill on the National Property Resource
President Andrzej Duda signed the bill on the National Property Resource, which will allow to, among others, build housing on lots owned by the State Treasury. This means more apartments to let with a relatively low rent should appear on the market.
„The goal of the act is to introduce solutions that will increase the supply of rental apartments (including those with the option to acquire ownership by the renter – rent with an option), that offer moderate rent costs through the usage of property belonging to the State Treasury,” the President’s Chancellery informed.
The bill created the National Property Resource, which will manage the State Treasury’s real estate and create stable conditions for financing the National Housing Program. „The Act of 20 June 2017 on the National Property Resource will contribute to increasing the supply of real estate available for development,” the chancellery stressed.
Duty to report to Defense Ministry only for „businesses with industrial defense potential”
The duty to submit to the Ministry of Defense information on the financial condition and defense potential will encompass only those „businesses that have an industrial defense potential”. „Acquiring this kind of information is justified and necessary,” the ministry wrote in a press release Thursday.
On Thursday the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily wrote that according to article 13 of the Act on the Program for Economy Mobilization, businesses will be obliged to report to the minister of defense about their financial condition and defense potential every six months. They will also have the duty to apply for the ministry’s consent to pursue a number of commercial activities.
According to the daily, the ministry presented a third version of the act. It decided that 15 sectors were strategic from the point of view of the state, those include: producers of weapons, cars, maps; telecoms, radio and TV broadcasters, pharmaceuticals. The newspaper reported the ministry wants the sectors to present financial statements. Additionally the businessmen will not be able to shut down their companies without the minister’s consent.