It is the employer's duty to ensure safe and hygienic working conditions for workers. In the case of remote work, the worker should be provided with the necessary working tools. Therefore, the costs associated with the purchase of masks, paper towels or laptops and internet modems incurred by employers may constitute the costs of obtaining revenue.
The Act dated 26 June 1974 Labour Code (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 1040 i.e. of 5 June 2019) Clearly, the employer is obliged to protect the health and life of workers.
He talks about it. Article 207.section 2 the above Act:
The employer is obliged to protect the health and life of workers by ensuring safe and hygienic working conditions, while making appropriate use of the achievements of science and technology. In particular, the employer shall:
- 1) organise work in such a way as to ensure safe and hygienic working conditions ;
- 2) ensure compliance with the rules and principles of health and safety at work, give instructions to remedy deficiencies in this respect and monitor the execution of those instructions;
- 3) respond to health and safety needs and adapt measures taken to improve the existing level of protection of the health and life of workers, taking into account changing working conditions; (...).
The employer is also obliged to take various preventive measures to ensure adequate working conditions. Such an action may be, for example, the order for remote work referred to in the recently published Act dated 2 March 2020 specific prevention, prevention and eradication solutions COVID-19, other infectious diseases and the resulting crisis situations (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 374 of 7 March 2020).
Alcohol intended to disinfect the workplace and to ensure adequate hygiene conditions in pandemic situations cannot be treated as a representative expenditure.
Article 3 the above-mentioned law provides that: COVID-19 the employer may instruct the worker to perform, for a specified period, the work specified in the contract of employment, outside the place of permanent performance (remote work).
This provision indicates that if an employer assigns a remote job to a worker, he will be required to provide him with the necessary work tools such as a business laptop or mobile internet. In the sense of the rules, this will be expenditure related to the equipment of the workplace, so it can be deducted from tax.
We will also include preventive measures to provide workers with access to hygiene products such as antibacterial soap or various types of disinfectants.
It should be pointed out that access to this type of products has proved to be very limited, and therefore employers have been provided with alcohol for the care of their employees, which is used for disinfection.
The question was, on the other hand, whether this expenditure could be classified as revenue costs, since it was assumed that alcohol spending could not be costed because it showed the characteristics of representation. We learn this from the Supreme Administrative Court’s judgment 5 April 2012 o reference no. II FSK 2101/10.
„Expenditure on all services and articles listed under Article 16(1)(28) the Corporate Income Tax Act – and thus also expenditure on alcoholic beverages – as a representation of the taxable person or his company, and thus on representing the interests of the taxable person or acting on his behalf, cannot be included in the cost of obtaining revenue.”
On the other hand, Whereas it should be pointed out by the parties that health and safety at work is a basic requirement to conduct business in Poland, and tax authorities do not limit the charge to the cost of soap or other disinfectants. It should therefore be concluded that alcohol intended to disinfect the workplace and to ensure adequate hygiene conditions in pandemic situations cannot be considered as representative expenditure.
It is worth mentioning, however, that in determining the cost of obtaining revenue, any expenditure (except those clearly indicated in the Act) requires an individual assessment of the direct link with revenue. Except in the event of a situation such as the spread of the virus COVID-19 among the community, decontamination of the workplace will be difficult to call representative spending. The purchase of the spirit can therefore be regarded as the cost of obtaining revenue.
As already mentioned at the outset, entrepreneurs are required to provide safe and hygienic working conditions, as well as the appropriate tools for performing the work in a remote system. Expenditure incurred on such activities will be likely to constitute revenue costs, as they are directly linked to the activities carried out.
Finally, it should be pointed out that expenditure for disinfection will not be able to be accounted for in the cost of a single-person business (if it is carried out in an apartment and does not employ employees) as the tax authorities do not allow personal expenses to be accounted for.
Author: Paweł Boś
Junior Tax Consultant, related to Russell Bedford Poland 2018. Author of numerous articles on legal and tax matters, published in the industry press. Law student at Leon Kozminski Academy in Warsaw.