Charakter prawny i warunki stosowania instytucji „umorzenie zaległości podatkowej” na gruncie polskiego prawa podatkowego
The Legal Character and Conditions for Applying the Legal Concept of “Tax Liability Forgiveness” in the Context of Polish Tax Law

Summary/Abstract: The legal concept of so-called tax liability forgiveness has a tradition in the provisions of Polish tax law. Under applicable law, i.e. the Tax Ordinance, it is regarded as one of the acceptable forms of relief from tax liability payment. What tax liability forgiveness shares with other forms of relief is the discretionary nature of the tax authority’s decision, on the basis of which the relief is granted, and the conditioning of the relief on the existence of statutory grounds – the taxpayer’s important interest or public interest. However, the implications of applying tax liability forgiveness are much more far-reaching and lead to extinguishing tax liability. The provisions of tax law do not suffice to clearly identify the legal nature of tax liability forgiveness, especially from the point of view of its influence on tax obligation and liability. The legal doctrine’s position and the views taken in judicial decisions are not uniform. The prevailing belief is that tax liability forgiveness should be treated the same way as release from debt, provided for in Article 508 of the Civil Code. An analysis of the regulations governing both of the above-mentioned legal concepts leads to the conclusion that this belief is questionable, and justifies the demand that lawmakers amend legislation so as to clearly define the legal nature of tax liability forgiveness.

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