Lack of obligation to collect WHT on insurance premiums – obtaining a decision stating the refund of an overpayment of 20% of the premium
Case study
Tax
The ALTO team represented one of the largest European insurance companies, which provided insurance coverage to, among others, a Polish capital company, in a dispute over the return of an overpaid withholding tax.
A Polish company was required to pay an insurance premium on which, upon payment, it withheld tax (WHT) at the basic rate of 20%. Disagreeing with this approach, ALTO team filed an overpayment claim on behalf of our client. One of the key arguments of our experts was that an insurance contract was not mentioned in the list of income subject to WHT under the CIT Act. We pointed out that an insurance agreement cannot be treated as similar to a guarantee or surety agreement.
The tax authority agreed with ALTO tax advisors, stating in its decision, inter alia, that insurance contracts should not be subject to WHT in Poland at all. Consequently, the authority confirmed the client’s right to receive a refund of the overpayment.
We are pleased with the authority’s position, all the more so as there are disputes in court-administrative jurisprudence as to whether there is a need to collect WHT upon payment of contributions (the courts present two, conflicting positions on this issue).
The taxpayer was represented in that case by Karolina Mazurkiewicz-Grzybowska and Dominik Niewadzi.
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ContactInvolved in the project:
Karolina Mazurkiewicz-Grzybowska
Partner & Tax Advisor +48 22 652 27 51 kmazurkiewicz@altoadvisory.pl
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Kamil Lewandowski
Chief Executive Officer
Kamil is a co-founder and CEO at ALTO. He is responsible for the development strategy of the ALTO group. Additionally, he oversees activities in the area of business development and marketing.
Paweł Fałkowski
Managing Partner, Accounting
Paweł is the firm’s co-founder and a Managing Partner at the accounting business line.
Sylwia Kulczycka
Managing Partner & Tax Advisor
Sylwia Kulczycka is a Managing Partner of the TAX business line at ALTO. She specializes in tax advisory services for the life sciences, IT and professional services industries.
Aleksandra Bońkowska
Partner & Tax Advisor
Aleksandra is a partner at ALTO. Before joining ALTO team, she worked in one of the big four companies. For many years, Ola has been advising clients in the financial industry, including in particular insurance companies, payment market institutions ...
Daniel Banach
Partner & Tax Advisor
Daniel is a partner at ALTO. He specializes in tax advisory for financial investors (mainly private equity funds) and for clients from the real estate industry.
