Publication date: October 29, 2024

International protection is granted pursuant to the provisions of the Polish Act of 13 June 2003 on granting protection to foreigners on the territory of the Republic of Poland to persons who: meet the conditions for granting refugee status or do not meet the conditions for granting refugee status, but qualify for subsidiary protection. Article 3 of this Act enumerates the forms of protection that may be granted to a foreigner. It includes: granting refugee status, granting subsidiary protection, granting asylum and granting temporary protection. Applications for granting international protection are decided in the first instance by the Head of the Office for Foreigners. A person who wants to submit an application to the Head of the Office for Foreigners for granting international protection must report to the appropriate Border Guard body. If the application is to also concern other persons, e.g. minor children, the applicant’s spouse, these persons must also be present when submitting the application. The office’s decision on granting international protection – refugee status or subsidiary protection should be made within 6 months of the date of submission of the application, which – in special cases – may be extended to 15 months. In some cases, documents are considered in an accelerated procedure (within 30 days).

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Publication date: October 21, 2024

Faced with the difficult situation on the real estate market in Poland, Poles are increasingly looking to foreign markets. This trend is particularly noticeable in Spain. Compared to purchases in other countries neighbouring Poland the increase of property purchases in Spain is one of the highest for Poles.

The main destinations are the Mediterranean coast and the Spanish archipelagos due to their good Mediterranean climate.

Poles have bought a record number of flats in Spain. In 2022, there were almost 3,000 units. In annual terms, interest increased by 160% and the share of Polish purchases among foreigners rose to 3.2% from 1.9% a year ago.

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Publication date: October 14, 2024

Deceptive tactics (deceptive patterns) on the Internet are various forms of unfair actions intended to mislead the user.

Deceptive interfaces (also known as “dark patterns”) used on the Internet not only violate consumer rights, but also data protection laws. In recent years, consumer surveillance authorities at national and EU level have been paying particular attention to consumer rights in digital markets and the protection personal data on the Internet. This trend is a consequence of the dynamic growth of e-commerce, the escalation of digitization under the influence of the pandemic and the growing number of violations of consumer rights. A critical area is the design practices of online platforms and manipulation techniques used on them. Inspections carried out by the European Commission and the CPC network (Consumer Protection Cooperation Network), which includes consumer protection authorities from 23 EU member states, Norway and Iceland, showed that as many as 40% of online stores use deceptive interfaces.

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Publication date: October 10, 2024

Withholding tax is one of the essential elements of the international tax system, which aims to ensure that countries have the right to tax income earned on their territory by foreign entities. In the context of increasing globalization and dynamic capital flows between national borders, the issue of identifying entities entitled to use preferential tax rates is becoming increasingly complex and important. The key concept in this discussion is the so-called “beneficial owner”, i.e. the actual owner of the income.

The concept of beneficial owner is fundamental in the context of applying double taxation treaties. These treaties often provide for reduced withholding tax rates or exemptions from withholding tax for specific categories of income, such as dividends, interest or royalties. However, in order to benefit from these preferences, the recipient of the income must meet the criterion of beneficial owner of the income. In practice, this means that it is not enough to have a formal right to receive the income; a number of other requirements must also be met.

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Publication date: October 10, 2024

Lack of facilities in Poland and deduction of VAT – views of Polish tax authorities

There are a number of companies being established in Poland with foreign shareholding structure. In this respect, the conditions that must be met by entities in order to be able to develop their business are important. This is particularly important in the context of the company’s background and the deduction of VAT, in accordance with the applicable Act on the tax on goods and services. In Poland, more and more judgments of the Supreme Administrative Court are being issued, which indicate the need to have an appropriate background in a given company.

Permanent place of business

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