The support package for Polish companies

The correlation between the financial condition of Polish companies and the coronavirus pandemic is undeniable, which is the reason for the government to prepare a project of national financial support for entrepreneurs. The likely time of its entry into force will be announced soon.

March 18th at 10.00 a Cabinet Council will be held with the participation of the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda, during which the final details of the support package will be determined, including the date of entry into force of the new provisions.

Support package – what will it cover?

The support package is a set of proposals for changes in the law that will help entrepreneurs who suffer from the negative effects associated with the coronavirus pandemic. According to the announcement issued by the government, the support package will focus on three aspects of the functioning of Polish business.

• Financial receivables – the project proposes reliefs for receivables, including facilities for the payment of taxes and ZUS contributions.
• Financial liquidity – the government will propose several financial instruments that should maintain or strengthen the financial liquidity of Polish companies (i.e. guarantee support and loan subsidies).
• Business security – protection and support of the labor market, with particular emphasis on solutions for companies that are at risk due to production or sales stoppage.

Support package details

The governmental announcement lists aspects and areas of business that require special support in more detail.

Among the solutions related to deferred payments, the government has prepared facilitation in the split payment method and VAT settlements (unspecified yet). The date of entry into force of the new JPK_VAT settlement format, as well as the provisions regarding mandatory registration into the Central Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners, will be postponed to July 1st, 2020. For the tourism industry, which is strongly affected by the pandemic crisis, there will be new provisions introducing the possibility to include expenses related to the cancellation of trips and stays abroad as tax-deductible costs.

The financial instruments, whose task will be to improve or maintain the financial liquidity of Polish enterprises, include, above all, a subsidy to the interest rate on loans (by extending the Disaster Fund to include cases of epidemics). Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) will provide warranty support (de minimis up to 80% of the loan amount) and loan subsidies.

As a part of market protection and support, the government has also committed itself to shorten the statutory crisis period (defined as a 15% drop in financial turnover, sales of goods or services) from 6 to 2 months. Therefore, entrepreneurs affected by the crisis would be entitled to a benefit from the FGŚP up to 100% of unemployment benefit increased by the number of social security contributions, and remuneration financed from the entrepreneur’s funds in the total amount of at least the minimum remuneration for work. Additional sickness and care allowances are also provided for entrepreneurs who look after children up to the age of 8 in the event of closure of educational institutions.

When will it come into force?

The completed draft of the support package was presented by the Ministry on March 10th, 2020. The specific date of its entry into force is not yet known, but the Ministry “is making every possible effort to ensure that it happens as soon as possible”.

The full message (in Polish only) can be found here.