According to the plans of the Ministry of Finance at the beginning 2019 a package of changes for small and medium-sized enterprises will enter into force. This is supposed to simplify life and reduce bureaucratic barriers. It's planned. 60 These changes are intended to include, inter alia, the inclusion of the spouse's salary in the cost of obtaining income, facilitating generational changes in family businesses and introducing technological innovations.
Facilitation for SMEs
The possibility of crediting the spouse's salary with the cost of obtaining income is a facilitation dedicated to small family businesses. Until now, the remuneration of the spouse could not be included in the tax costs. This was undoubtedly a hindrance for the smallest companies.
Another change is to facilitate generational changes in family companies. If someone wants to hand over power in them, for example, to their children, in practice they have to deal with a whole series of formalities. The most common of these is the need to use the services of a professional law firm specialised in company handling.
Minister Jadwiga Emilewicz announces that the whole process will become easier, but so far we know only a general assumption in this area and it is difficult to predict what form this promise can take.
Relief for innovation
Another announcement in general concerns the so-called start-ups, i.e. the newly created innovative companies. According to the plans, the code of commercial companies is to take account of the construction of a so-called simple stock company, which can also be established by electronic means.
The planned changes assume that entrepreneurs who patent new technology or, more broadly, develop innovation will benefit from a preferential CIT rate of 4%. This change is intended to encourage research and investment in this area.
New office – SME spokesperson
Another change implies the establishment of an institution of the Ombudsman for Small and Medium Entrepreneurs. Interestingly, its headquarters may not be Warsaw, but Nowy Sącz, a city of several dozen. one thousand residents. According to Minister Emilewicz, such a location is intended to promote decentralisation.
The Ombudsman of Small and Medium Entrepreneurs is to act as a ‘mediator’ between small business and officials. For example, it will be able to ask the state authorities to clarify the rules that result in divergent application in practice. The Ombudsman for Small and Medium Entrepreneurs will, if necessary, proceed to ongoing proceedings or inform the administration of irregularities.
This change package is linked to the planned reform of special economic zones (SEZs). The structure of the current SEZs has been established above twenty years ago and for this reason there are demands to modernise it and adapt it to the current realities of a more developed economy.
Minister Emilewicz announced that the new SEZ organisation should be more friendly to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.
Some of the announcements may seem promising, but for now we only know the general outline of the draft reform. We still have to wait for their evaluation. Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises is a demand for almost all political parties before each election.