The President of Poland signed 8 April Act with 30 March 2021 amending the Excise Tax Act and some other laws that amend, among others, the provisions of the Act of 11 September 2015 on public health and the Act of 26 October 1982 about raising sober and preventing alcoholism. The amendment changes jurisdiction in terms of interpretation of regulations and transfers it from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Finance.
- The sugar levy is a new tribute, valid from 1 January 2021. In the intention of the Ministry of Health, it was intended to encourage producers to reduce the amount of sweeteners in beverages and consumers to choose healthier products. It is therefore intended not to raise additional resources for the budget, but to change public habits. Data on the sale of sweetened beverages indicate that it fulfils its task. Now the Ministry of Finance will be competent to interpret its provisions,” explains Deputy Finance Minister Jan Sarnowski.
The Act provides, inter alia, that the provisions of the Act of 29 August 1997 – Tax Ordinance, with the powers of the tax authorities respectively:
- Chief of the IRS,
- Director of the Chamber of Tax Administration,
- Director of National Tax Information,
- Head of the National Tax Administration,
Minister for Public Finance.
- The Director of National Tax Information as a body of the National Tax Administration, whose task is to ensure uniform and universal access to tax and customs information and to deal with matters relating to the interpretation of individual tax legislation, pursuant to the adopted amendment, will also assume the obligations related to the provision of information on the charge on foodstuffs in question under Article 12a Act on 11 September 2015 on public health and fees for the authorisation in question under Article 9 Act on 26 October 1982 on raising soberness and combating alcoholism," stressed Deputy Finance Minister Anna Chalupa.
The amendment is a response to numerous business requests, which, having many questions about product qualification and interpretation, addressed both the Health Ministry and the National Tax Information. The competent authority for issuing individual interpretations in this respect became the Director of National Tax Information in accordance with the provisions laid down in this Regulation. Tax Ordinance.
- The transfer of competence to interpret the provisions on the sugar levy to the Minister of Finance removes the doubts of entrepreneurs and guarantees them the safety of applying new regulations. The Act also sets the status and deadlines for the implementation of requests for interpretation submitted from January. Irrespective of the procedures for their submission and the authority to which they were addressed, they will now be recognised by the National Tax Information in the mode defined by Tax Ordinance – added Deputy Minister Sarnowski.
Under Article 32 the amended Act provides for the following time limits for the issuance of individual interpretations:
- 2 months from the date of entry into force of this provision, in the case of applications to 31 December 2020
- 3 months from the date of entry into force of this provision, in the case of applications submitted during the period from 1 January 2021 until the date of entry into force of the Amending Act.
Those provisions shall enter into force on the day following the date of publication of the Act of 30 March 2021 in the Journal of Laws.