Now is a good time to review the Real Estate Tax paid
Entrepreneurs, especially those with large property holdings, who pay Real Estate Tax should review their RET accounts at least once a year. Autumn is the best time to do so.
Why such a revision, especially if the taxpayer has not bought or sold any real estate?
– Well, the Real Estate Tax regulations are so vague that disputes in this area, including those having their finale in the courts, are very common. Increasingly, the courts are ruling in favour of taxpayers. One such example is this year’s judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court (ref. no. III FSK 590/21), according to which, when determining the clear height of a storey, the distance measured from the ground to the lowest permanent structural element of the ceiling should be taken into account and the height should be related to the area of the entire room. If it turns out that the height is between 1.4 and 2.2 m only 50% of the area of the room should be included in the tax base. Until now, the interpretation applied was that for tax purposes, the room should be divided into smaller fragments – because of their height. Based on this ruling alone, it is worth recalculating the area of the property on which tax is paid. If it turns out that the amounts paid to the tax office are too high, it is worth correcting your settlements, five years backwards, and from the new year, pay tax according to a lower value, advises Piotr Kalemba, senior manager cooperating with Thedy & Partners.
If you need support in revising your Real Estate Tax settlements – the Thedy & Partners team has a wealth of experience in this area. We keep up to date with tax authorities’ rulings and administrative court judgments and can point out what can and should be applied in practice to make Real Estate Tax settlements optimal and correct.