New exemption in PCC. Who will benefit them?

Significant changes to the tax on civil law transactions (PCC) were introduced on August 31, 2023. The amendment enjoyed great interest and approval due to the additional exemptions it introduced limiting the obligation to pay the tax in question.

Although at first glance the changes seem positive and beneficial from the taxpayers’ point of view, their unclear formulation caused many misunderstandings in the sphere of interpretation, which in turn led to errors in the application of the law.

Therefore, in response to the parliamentary interpellation, the Ministry of Finance presented its position according to which the Ministry of Finance and the tax authorities will interpret the new regulations.

What will be the changes in the PCC tax?

After the change in regulations, a new exemption from tax on civil law transactions applies. Accordingly, the following sales are exempt from PCC:

1. ownership rights to a residential premises constituting a separate property, ownership rights to a single-family residential building,

2. cooperative ownership right to the premises regarding a residential premises

3. a single-family house, if the buyer is a natural person or natural persons who, on and before the date of sale, were not entitled to any of these rights or share in these rights, unless this share does not exceed or did not exceed 50%. and was acquired by inheritance.

PCC exemption when selling a single-family house

Disputes in the interpretation occurred regarding the third point, where the legislator applied only: “(…) who on the date of sale and before that date were not entitled to any of these rights or share in these rights, unless this share does not exceed or did not exceed 50 percent . and was acquired by inheritance”

Anticipating possible doubts in the interpretation of the provisions, two questions were asked. The first one was “Is the provision with a maximum amount of 50 percent share in real estate acquired by inheritance should only apply to share in one real estate? The second question was: “Is the exemption also available to persons who have or had shares in at least two real estate properties, and the total amount of their shares does not exceed 50 percent?” (Response of the Ministry of Finance to interpellation No. 44098 of MP Dariusz Olszewski regarding exemption from tax on civil law transactions when purchasing the first premises or residential building).

The analysis of the legal regulation itself suggested that in the case of previous ownership of a larger number of properties acquired by inheritance, in which the purchaser’s share in each of them is 35%. (i.e. a total of 70%, which exceeds the statutory limit of 50%), then in such a situation the taxpayer would be excluded from the possibility of applying tax exemption on civil law transactions.

Responding to the questions asked, Secretary of State Artur Soboń stated that each share that the buyer has or had in the premises or residential building should be treated separately before purchasing the first apartment.

PCC exemptions – amendment to the regulations

If you have shares in more than one property, you can benefit from the exemption, provided that your share in each of them does not exceed 50%. and was entirely acquired by inheritance.

To sum up, the amendment introduced three new exemptions from the obligation to pay PCC, and the position expressed in the interpellation allows the use of one of the newly introduced exemptions, regardless of the number of premises in which the taxpayer holds shares earlier.

Author:

Maciej Szkutnik

Specialist in the field. Taxes

 

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