26 March 2026

Taxpayer Protective Measures, part 3: Tax Interpretations

Tax regulations – particularly the Tax Ordinance – provide various tools that provide real protection for taxpayers. These tools include, for example, general tax rulings and individual tax rulings. Such tax instruments, such as individual tax interpretations, provide a solution for the interested party (the taxpayer) and also provide real protection from tax authorities.

The provisions regarding individual tax rulings are regulated in Articles 14b – 14s of the Tax Ordinance. An individual tax ruling is issued at the request of the interested party (e.g., the taxpayer), and the competent authority is the Director of the National Tax Information. In the field of local taxes, tax rulings are issued by the relevant commune head, mayor (city president), district head, or voivodeship marshal.

Anyone (individuals and non-individual business entities) can apply for an individual tax ruling, covering both factual circumstances and future events. Therefore, tax interpretations can also be used to secure future business transactions in terms of tax consequences.

Tax interpretations – fields of interest

A tax ruling cannot cover all areas of tax law. This includes, of course, issues such as:

• procedural provisions (obligations, powers, and jurisdiction of tax authorities),
• anti-tax avoidance regulations (including GAAR, small clauses of the Personal Income Tax Act, Corporate Income Tax Act, CFC, and measures limiting contractual benefits),
• regulations on the global equalization tax and the national equalization tax.

To the extent that the factual circumstances concern Binding Rate Information (WIS) or Binding Excise Information (WIA), an individual interpretation is not issued. Furthermore, the tax authority cannot issue an individual interpretation if:

• the factual elements in the application for the ruling are the subject of ongoing tax proceedings, a tax audit, or a customs and fiscal audit,
• the matter covered by the application has been resolved on its merits in a decision or ruling of the tax authority.

The cost of filing an application is PLN 40 – calculated each time for a separate factual situation or future event. Therefore, if the application includes two questions regarding the factual circumstances and two questions regarding a future event, the fee for issuing an interpretation per applicant will be PLN 160.

The deadline for issuing an interpretation by the Director of the National Tax Information Service is three months (from the date of submission of the application). If an individual interpretation is not issued within this time, in accordance with the regulations, on the day following the deadline for issuing the interpretation (i.e., the day following the three-month deadline), the individual interpretation is deemed to be fully positive for the applicant. If any gaps are found, the tax authority may also request the applicant to provide additional information within seven days (from the date of receipt of the request).

All individual tax interpretations, once issued, are published on the Ministry of Finance’s dedicated website – EUREKA. What’s important here is that while general tax rulings and tax clarifications are available and applicable to all taxpayers (in the context of the special protection they provide), in the case of an individual ruling, it protects only the applicant who obtained it. Individual rulings, on the other hand, can also serve as a statement (position) presented by the Director of the National Tax Information Service on a given issue—especially if multiple individual rulings have been issued on a given issue, presenting the same position.