On the pages of the Government Legislative Center, a bill was published on the amendment of the Act on Personal Income Tax, the Act on Corporate Income Tax, the Act – Tax Ordinance and on the amendment of certain other laws providing for changes in the combined taxation of spouses.
Currently, in principle, each spouse is subject to a separate income tax on individuals. However, the legislature provided for the possibility of joint settlement of spouses with the tax, under certain conditions.
Conditions for the submission of a joint PIT
In order to be able to settle things together with our spouse, we need to meet some conditions. These are:
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- being married throughout the year,
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- lack of property separation between spouses,
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- submission of a joint tax combination application in the tax return. It is sufficient if it so requests one married.
The form of joint taxation brings tax savings where one the spouses obtain income exceeding the limit second tax threshold (85,528 PLN), a second the spouses have little income. This is due to the methodology for calculating the tax base.
The Act states that in this case the tax is referred to in the name of both spouses, in double the tax calculated on half of the total income of the spouses. In a situation where the income of a better earner spouse does not exceed that threshold, the relief is essentially tax-neutral, i.e.
the tax calculated by it will be equal to the tax resulting from separate taxation. At that time, tax benefits can be enjoyed by married couples whose income one the spouses are so low that they do not fully allow the tax-free amount to be deducted.
The relief will not be lost even after the time of the deposition
The legislator included in the bill yet one a reservation concerning total taxation. Article 6(10) The PIT Act states that the concession does not apply to taxable persons who, expressed in the tax return referred to above, submit a tax return after the deadline for filing the tax return, i.e. to 30 April.
It does not matter in this situation why we are late to give a statement, even when it is caused by circumstances independent of taxpayers. After the deadline has been exceeded, submission is necessary two separate tax returns. The amendment of the provisions proposed in the draft law repeals this condition.
This means that taxpayers who are going to be late, with a joint statement, and they will not lose their right to benefit from the relief after the deadline.
The Ministry of Finance, in its justification for the bill, indicates that there are various situations of chance which prevent the taxpayer from submitting an application on time, e.g. illness or foreign departure.
Since the taxpayer meets the conditions for total income taxation , it should be irrelevant whether the application for preferential taxation is included in a statement submitted within the time limit specified by the law or, for example, in the correction of that statement.
The proposed amendment also applies to tax returns for single-parents.
The proposed solution should be assessed positively. There is no reasonable justification for depriving taxpayers of the possibility to benefit from tax preferences only because they have failed to give a statement.
At this point, however, it should be recalled that the submission of a tax return after the deadline exposes taxpayers to the criminal-tax consequences. In order to avoid them, the so-called tax return should be attached to the tax return. voluntary disclosure, a letter in which we will notify the office of the offence.
The planned amendment is to apply to revenue obtained from the date of 1 January 2018 This means that the application for joint clearance lodged after 30 April 2019 will not give up the possibility to benefit from the tax credit. The planned date of entry into force is 1 January 2019
Author:
Marcin Kołkowicz
Tax adviser, tax consultant At Russell Bedford Poland Sp. z o.o., a graduate of the Administration, Management and Marketing of the Catholic University of Lublin named after John Paul II. The subject of tax law deals with from 2012. He gained experience in Lublin and in Warsaw tax advisory offices. Author and co-author of many tax publications, in particular for the legal and tax portal TaxFin.pl. In his career, he dealt with both direct and indirect taxation issues, with particular emphasis on VAT.