The rules of collecting the withholding tax will remain the same until the end of the year.

On Friday evening (June 27), the Ordinance of the Minister of Finance was published, which once again postponed the date of entry into force of new obligations of payers in connection with the collection of withholding tax (WHT).

The amended provisions, which, according to the last derogation, were to enter into force on 1 July this year, will become effective only from 1 January 2020.

It is worth recalling that the new regulations significantly change and tighten the documentation criteria, on the basis of which payers are entitled to apply the exemption or reduced rate of withholding tax for payments exceeding PLN 2 million.

As a general rule, in the case of payment of receivables subject to WHT (dividends, interest, royalties, remuneration for certain services purchased from foreign suppliers), for an amount exceeding PLN 2 million, payers will be obliged to collect withholding tax according to domestic rates (19/20 %).

The amended provisions introduce new regulations, i.e. in particular an opinion on the application of the exemption and a special declaration submitted by the payer, which constitute conditions for the application of release from the withholding tax or a decreased WHT rate for the payments exceeding PLN 2 million. Obtaining them is connected with meeting a number of criteria (including the documentation criteria) and receiving specific statements from the recipients of the receivables.

The postponement of the new regulations gives payers and taxpayers an additional six months to prepare for the entry of amended provisions into force. However, the decision to postpone the new regulations was a big surprise for taxpayers.

If you are interested in the topic of new withholding tax regulations,do not hesitate to contact us.