As part of the Polish Deal, the Ministry of Finance has created a solution intended for foreign investors planning to invest in Poland. We are talking about an investment agreement, i.e. a binding opinion of tax authorities issued to investors about the tax consequences of investing in Poland. The government plans will enter into force on January 1, 2022.
The project is inspired by solutions introduced, among others, in Slovakia and Italy, where strategic investors are given the opportunity to obtain one opinion on the overall tax consequences of a given investment – in the case of Polish regulations: the so-called interpretation 590. According to the deputy finance minister, this will significantly increase the attractiveness of the country as a destination for foreign investments. The investment agreement is to include an individual interpretation of tax law, Binding Rate Information, Binding Excise Information and evaluation of transfer prices of the concluded transaction.
Providing one interpretation for the investor will significantly reduce the time that the entrepreneur had to devote to gather the necessary information to make an investment decision and carry out the entire process.
Interpretation 590 will constitute a single investment agreement concluded directly with the Minister of Finance and will be valid for a period of 5 years. The main benefit for the investor is the confirmation that during the investment implementation period he or she will not have to worry about the risks associated with possible tax changes or a new interpretation of the applicable regulations. The content of the interpretation will be mutually agreed by the investor and the tax authority. In addition to investors, the 590 interpretation will also be available to entrepreneurs constituting a group, whose investment will amount to over PLN 50 million. In the case of individual investors, this amount is to be not less than PLN 100 million by the end of 2024. The main purpose of introducing the thresholds is to reduce the number of projects in the start-up phase of the legislation.
According to the justification, the draft provides for a limit on the number of agreements concluded: from 2025, 10 agreements are to be concluded each year, and from 2024, investment agreements may also be concluded in English.
The cost of concluding the agreement will depend on the value and complexity of the planned investment.