TGC Corporate Lawyers Legal review – January 2024

Newsletter – changes in regulations and interesting decisions – January 2024.

1. The mandatory KSeF will not enter into force in 2024  

On 19 January 2024, during a press conference, the Minister of Finance announced that the mandatory National e-Invoicing System (KSeF) will not be launched as planned, this is on 1 July 2024. According to the Ministry, the current state of technical arrangements prevents the safe implementation of this obligation in the coming months. The Ministry commissioned an IT audit of the system.  

Although the Ministry ensures that it wants to launch the mandatory KSeF as soon as possible, the new date will be indicated once the audit has been concluded. The results of the audit may trigger the necessary changes to the system.  

Postponing the launch of the mandatory KSeF may help companies better prepare for the e-invoicing obligation. According to a survey conducted by TGC Corporate Lawyers and Crowe Polska, only 3% of respondents declare their full readiness to use the e-invoicing system. You can read more about the results of our study here. 

2. Protection of whistleblowers – resumption of work on the bill 

At the beginning of January 2024, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the draft law on the protection of whistleblowers, implementing Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019, has been included in the list of legislative programme works.  This directive lays down rules and procedures for the protection of whistleblowers in both the public and private sectors. 

The draft of 8 January 2024, developed by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, is the seventh draft of the Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers. Poland has not implemented the first tranche of EU whistleblower protection regulations for more than 2 years. 

The Whistleblower Protection Act sets out the legal remedies and guarantees to be available to a whistleblower. It imposes an obligation to implement local procedures and confidential channels for reporting breaches of law on entities such as: 

• Public entities, regardless of the number of employees (with the exception of offices and organisational units of municipalities or districts with less than 10,000 inhabitants)  

• Entities operating in the financial sector, regardless of the number of employees (e.g. banks, investment funds, brokerage houses, insurance companies)  

• Private entities employing at least 50 people 

The draft law on whistleblowers is to be adopted by the Council of Ministers by the end of the first quarter of this year, or by 31 March. The deadline for entry into force of the new regulations has been shortened to 1 month. 

3. 10 most important legal changes from 1 January 2024  

TGC Corporate Lawyers and Crowe experts have prepared a summary of the most important regulations in force from 1 January 2024. 

1. Increase of minimum wage and hourly rate:  as of 1 January 2024, the minimum wage is PLN 4,242 gross, and the minimum hourly rate is PLN 27.70 gross.   

2. Higher property tax: maximum tax rate on residential properties has increased from PLN 1 to PLN 1.15 per m2. For real estates used for business purposes, it is currently PLN 33.10 per m2. 

3. Energy price freeze until 30 June 2024: The energy price freeze applies to individual customers as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. 

4. Minimum CIT tax is back: on 1 January of 2024, a two-year period of suspension of the application of the provisions on the so-called minimum tax ended. This means that taxpayers will settle the new tax at the beginning of 2025. 

5. New plastic levy for companies: from 1 January 2024, businesses placing certain single-use plastic products on the market are required to charge fees for certain plastic products, e.g. single-use plastic bags, cups and single-use boxes. 

6. A change for car dealers: since the beginning of 2024, car dealers and private owners have been obliged to re-register used vehicles with the district office within a certain time limit. 

7. Amendment of pension regulations: on 1 January 2024, new regulations on bridging pensions came into force. 

8. WIS, WIA and WIP applications only electronically: applications for Binding Rate Information (WIS), Binding Excise Information (WIA) and Binding Origin Information (WIP), as well as other documents relating to binding information cases, can only be submitted electronically.  

9. Faster depreciation in municipalities with increased unemployment: the  depreciation period for fixed assets in the form of non-residential buildings and structures has been reduced from 40 years to 5 or 10 years.  

10. New EU thresholds for public procurement: the increase applies to thresholds in contracts for construction works and supplies and services procured by local governments. 

Learn more

4. Insolvency III – free winding-up for insolvent microenterprises 

The European Commission is working on the Insolvency-III-Directive introducing simplified winding-up proceedings for insolvent microenterprises, i.e. entities employing up to 10 employees whose turnover does not exceed EUR 2 million per year. According to the proposal, the authority examining a bankruptcy petition will not be able to dismiss the petition even if the debtor is unable to cover the costs of the bankruptcy proceedings.  

The main purpose of the amendments is to harmonize the insolvency law in the EU. Member states will be able to decide whether the SME sector will also be covered by the new proceedings. Currently, insolvency laws vary widely from one EU country to another. This leads to large differences in the effectiveness of national insolvency proceedings, which render the cross-border investments less attractive. 

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