Nykiel Włodzimierz (red.), Wilk Michał (red.), Polish Tax System. Business Opportunities and Challenges

Joining the European Union in 2004 has influenced the shape of contemporary Poland to great extent. Positive impact, which the EU has exerted on the Polish economy, national security, tackling inequalities and legal system, cannot be overestimated. Thanks to structural and systemic opportunities, which came with concluding the Europe Agreement on 16 December 1991, and due to hard work the difficult and complex process of political and economic transformation from a communist country to a modern free market economy subject to constitutional order has turned out to be a great success of Poland. It has to be underlined that such a success cannot be obscured by recent attempts to undermine the fundamentals of the rule of law.

The aim of this book is to show business opportunities and challenges stemming from the shape and the construction of the Polish tax system. It goes without saying that taxes are one of the factors, which are taken into account when calculating the profitability and reasonability of various investments. Foreign investments are no exception to that rule. Furthermore, it has to be noted that the analysis of a given tax system cannot be only limited to law reading. It should also take other elements into account – tax law application by tax authorities, practical level of taxpayers' protection as well as general attitude towards taxpayers.

Our intention was to present those elements of the Polish tax system (the formula of the book did not allow us, obviously, to show the whole of that system with all the details) which, on the one hand, give rise to opportunities for the business and to challenges on the other.

The first chapter gives a brief overview of an economic, legal and political context in which Polish tax law has been shaped throughout recent years (Anna Nykiel-Mateo). The second chapter is dedicated to main features of the Polish tax system (Włodzimierz Nykiel). The third chapter aims at confronting Polish law with the EU constitutional law and showing the problems, which Poland faced in the process of adopting its legislation to the EU law and EU principles (Michał Wilk). General tax law regulations have been analyzed and assessed in the fourth chapter (Ziemowit Kukulski, Małgorzata Sęk, Michał Wilk). The fifth and the sixth chapters are devoted to consumption taxes: excise duties and VAT, respectively (Małgorzata Sęk). Tax law regulations on personal income tax and corporate income tax have been analyzed in the seventh chapter (Adam Mariański). An overview of other business-related taxes has been drafted in the eighth chapter (Ziemowit Kukulski, Małgorzata Sęk, Michał Wilk). Last but not least, the ninth chapter gives a detailed view on the network of Polish double tax treaties and shows trends in their development.

The book is addressed to entrepreneurs and tax advisors as well as to academics and tax policy makers.

Editors