The government adopted a draft law on the management of a successiond enterprise of a natural person. The Act is intended to allow the company to continue operating smoothly after the death of the company's owner.
According to CEIDG data on the state of the small and medium-sized enterprises sector in Poland, single-person economic activity is the most popular form of economic activity. This form of business is more than 80% all companies in Poland.
Currently, in the event of the death of the owner, the company ceases to exist formally, which can make the situation considerably more complicated, for example, by its employees or contractors.
The legislator decided to regulate the question of the continuation of business activity by the heirs of the entrepreneur. This action has been positively assessed by both entrepreneurs and the legal community.
The adopted draft envisages a change in total 25 legal acts, including tax laws. The legislator proposes a rather unusual solution. It is intended to consist of tax exemption from inheritance tax and donations, among other things, of receiving inheritance tax.
Such a change seems deliberate, given the justification for the bill, and it would be no wonder if the legislator had not gone a step further. In addition, the project proposes a tax exemption for the inheritance of the company (including non-donor-related family ties).
This means that, once certain conditions are fulfilled, the tax exemption will benefit not only from the inheritance of the company itself, but also from receiving it in a gift from the heir, regardless of the family relationship of the donor and the recipient. Such an incentive for the legislator to operate after the death of the entrepreneur will allow, among other things, the tax-neutral transfer of the inherited part of the company to a personal commercial law company and then further measures to optimise the use of the assets received.
Draft Act on the Management of a Successive Business of a Natural Person 27 February 2018 addressed to the first reading at the session of the Sejm.