Rz: End of a loophole. Companies will no longer avoid tax on large plots of land
New regulations will close the loophole allowing companies to avoid tax on large plots of land simply because they have a private railway siding, Rzeczpospolita writes.
The amendment to the act on local taxes and charges, passed on 17 November, includes provisions on railway property.
Michał Nielepkowicz, tax adviser and partner at Thedy & Partners, commented on the issue in the newspaper, pointing out that the amendment closes a tax loophole which is painful for self-governments, making it possible, among other things, to exempt from tax whole plots of land on which private railway sidings are located. The latter usually belong to factories or logistic bases which usually occupy large plots and the siding itself is only a small fragment of them. After the change, this exemption will still apply, but only to the part occupied exclusively for the performance of the tasks of the infrastructure manager and, which is important, on condition that the owner of the siding makes it available for use by potentially all railway undertakings.
– I do not think that in practice this will happen because of the many formalities which would have to be completed for a siding to be used for general use and not just for a particular factory or warehouse. Owners of such land with sidings will probably start paying tax on them from 2022,” adds Michał Nielepkowicz.
The entire article was published in Rzeczpospolita of 22 November 2021.