In the Act of 6 December 2008 Whereas it has been indicated that excise duties are taxed on passenger cars, namely their import, intra-Community acquisition, and first sale on national territory. Therefore, it is not a passenger car as a thing which is subject to excise duty but to a specific legal act which is the subject of that passenger car.
The Excise Tax Act has its own definition of a passenger car which is not identical to the definitions contained in other tax laws, or in traffic regulations. According to Article 100(4) that act, passenger cars are ‘cars and other motor vehicles of CN heading 8703 intended principally for the transport of persons, other than those of heading No 8702, including passenger-cars (combs) and racing cars, excluding motor vehicles and other vehicles which do not require registration in accordance with traffic regulations.’ Therefore, not only passenger cars within the meaning of traffic regulations will be subject to excise duty, the vehicle catalogue will be wider.
Excise tax payer for import, intra-Community acquisition, or first the sale in the country of the passenger car is a natural person, a legal person and an organisational unit not having legal personality which carries out excise duty-taxed activities. Until recently, there was much controversy when a tax-taxed vehicle was co-owned.
In the amendment of the Act of 2010 it was pointed out that, where a passenger car for which excise duty was imposed is co-proprietary, taxable persons should be regarded as all co-owners, even if the taxed activity has only been carried out one of them. Thus, all co-owners bear joint responsibility for excise duty tax obligations.
The subject of excise duties on passenger cars is the import and intra-Community acquisition of a passenger car not previously registered in Poland (in accordance with traffic regulations), and first sale in the territory of the country of a passenger car not registered in the territory of Poland which was manufactured in the country or from which excise duty was not paid in connection with import or intra-Community acquisition.
Taxation of passenger car excise duties is one-off, which has been confirmed by standardization Article 100(3) Excise Tax Act.
Where a tax obligation has been imposed on passenger cars in connection with implementation one the taxable activity does not arise again on the basis of another activity which is also taxable, provided that the amount of excise duty has been declared or set at an appropriate amount.
The tax base for passenger cars is, in principle, the value of the car, which has been specifically included in the following categories:
- • the amount due for the sale of a passenger car in the territory of the country less the amount of the tax on goods and services and the amount of excise duty payable on the car concerned,
- • the customs value of the car plus the duty due for the import of cars,
- • the amount due for the purchase of the car, thus the price resulting from the invoice.
The rate of excise duty depends on the cylinder capacity of the engine and for motor vehicles of a cylinder capacity exceeding 2000 Cubic centimetres 18.6%, and for other passenger cars is 3.1% the tax base.
Where before first registration within the country will be replaced by a capacity engine 2000 Cubic or lower centimetres per engine with a higher cylinder capacity – above 2000 Cubic centimetres should be assumed to be the subject of the operation of a vehicle with an engine capacity above 2000 Cubic centimeters.
This should be done before first registration in the territory of the country will be carried out by the installation of an engine in a vehicle which has not yet been equipped with it. It should then be assumed that the subject of the taxed activity is a vehicle with an engine of the capacity that the engine was fitted with.
The excise duty on passenger cars is paid in three ways and depends on the subject of excise duty.
The taxable person who sells a passenger car within the territory of the country shall submit declarations of excise duty to the competent head of the customs office and shall calculate and pay the excise duty on the account of the competent customs office for the monthly periods until 25.
the day of the month following that in which the tax obligation arose.
The taxable person who makes intra-Community acquisitions after the movement of a passenger car into the territory of the country shall submit a simplified declaration to the competent chief of customs within the time limit 14 days, but not later than the date of registration of the vehicle in the territory of the country and within the time limit 30 the days should be calculated and paid to the account of the competent customs office.
In the case of imports of passenger cars, importers are not required to submit tax declarations, but the declaration of excise duty is made through the SAD customs document.
The Excise Tax Act provides for a number of exemptions. The most common is the exemption from excise duty on a passenger car imported by a natural person who has a permanent or temporary residence in Poland in the territory of a Member State, if all conditions are met:
- - the car is intended for the personal use of that person,
- - This car served this person for at least 6 the months before the change of place of residence, as confirmed by the relevant document to the competent head of the customs office,
- - the car will not be sold, rented or otherwise disposed of to the person third for a period 12 months from the date of import into the country,
- the vehicle has been acquired in accordance with tax rules in the Member State of the European Union in which the returnee was resident, and no excise duty or tax refund was applied to exports. Similar exemptions apply to foreign students coming to Poland for study purposes, as well as the cars of citizens of EU Member States temporarily imported for private or business purposes, provided that additional conditions are met, inter alia, in terms of the time limit for importing the car during the year and how it is used.
Entrepreneurs who plan to import or intra-Community acquisition of a vehicle should add to the costs for the purchase in question the excise duty costs. They should also pay attention to engine capacity, which is of great importance for the amount of the tax liability, which is six times higher for vehicles with engine capacity above 2000 Cubic centimeters.