Koszty uzyskania przychodu w kancelarii radcy prawnego – wydatki poniesione na cele osobiste, czy w celu uzyskania przychodu?
Tax deductible expenses in a legal adviser’s law office – expenses incurred for personal purposes or to generate revenue?

Summary/Abstract: In accordance with the Act of 26 July 1991 on Personal Income Tax, legal advisers running law offices are entrepreneurs who derive revenue from a revenue source that is non-agricultural business activity. This category of taxpayers is entitled to deduct from revenue so-called actual tax deductible expenses, incurred for the purposes of deriving revenue, as well as securing or preserving a source of revenue, with the exception of costs specified in article 23 of the statute. Thus, a legal adviser may deduct from his or her revenue all expenses that meet the aforementioned criteria, which include, most importantly, a causal connection to the revenue generated. This eliminates the possibility of deducting a legal adviser’s personal expenses. In practice, classifying many categories of costs, which legal advisers perceive as incurred for the purposes of deriving income from the economic activity they carry out (by way of running law offices) as tax deductible expenses, is problematic. Tax authorities and administrative courts question claiming e.g. the costs of purchasing clothing, glasses, and recreation services (such as swimming pool passes) as expenses deductible for tax purposes. Similarly, certain expenses incurred in connection with education, the purchase of books, and food and beverage services are called into question. An analysis of both judicial decisions handed down by administrative courts and tax interpretations indicates that individual assessment of each of the legal adviser’s expenses from the point of view of their causal connection to the generated or expected revenue is necessary.

• Details
• Contents