Excise rates – a change in the jurisprudential line
- Trochę o VAT
- 2 minuty
Until recently, the courts held that when using the exemption under Article 30(1) of the Excise Tax Law, in the case of having a decision to redeem certificates of origin issued after the change in rates (i.e., after January 1, 2019), the lower excise rate of PLN 5/MWh should be applied instead of the previous PLN 20/MWh.
However, there has been a change in jurisprudence in favour of taxpayers. An example is the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) judgement of October 3, 2024 (ref. I FSK 539/21).
In this judgement, the NSA decided which excise tax rate – the previous one (PLN 20 /MWh) or the new one (PLN 5 /MWh) – should be applied in a situation where the tax liability arose in one year, but the document confirming the redemption of energy certificates of origin reached the taxpayer in the following year.
Key position of the Supreme Administrative Court on excise rates
The court held that, in the absence of transitional provisions, the principle applies, according to which:
- the excise tax rate should be determined according to the regulations in effect at the time of energy production, and not at the time of obtaining the certificate of origin.
- if the electricity was produced during the period of a higher rate (PLN 20 /MWh), the excise exemption should also be settled according to this higher rate, even if the documents confirming the redemption of certificates were received during the lower rate (PLN 5/MWh).
The NSA stressed that the timing of receipt of the documents is only technical, and the tax settlement for a given period should take into account the regulations in effect at the time of energy production.
The NSA also expressed a similar position in its judgment of October 22, 2024 (ref. I FSK 417/21), which confirms the direction of changes in the line of jurisprudence.
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Katarzyna Trzaska-Matusiak
Manager I Tax adviser
Tel.: +48 (22) 376 52 83