Flat-Rate Tax on Ship Construction or Ship Reconstruction as a New Institution of Polish Tax Law

Abstract

At the beginning of 2017, a new form of taxation was introduced into the Polish tax system – flat-rate tax on ship construction or ship reconstruction. It should be one of the elements of support for the Polish shipbuilding industry. However, this solution has many disadvantages. First and foremost, difficulties arise from the interpretation of the provisions of the act introducing a new tax. In addition, the introduction of a flat-rate tax on ship construction or ship reconstruction resulted in the European Commission launching a verification procedure in terms of its compatibility with the internal market. These circumstances mean that potential taxpayers are suspicious of this form of taxation. It may turn out that this tax will share the tonnage tax fate, which was also introduced as a tax preference, and did not gain popularity among taxpayers at all and thus did not fulfil the function assigned to it. The purpose of the article is to describe the construction elements of the new form of taxation with an indication of the doubts arising in connection with its introduction. The article also attempts to evaluate the presented solutions.