POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Agnieszka Janicka and Krzysztof Hajdamowicz, Clifford Chance
Mandatory Disclosure Rules The Polish law provisions adopting mandatory disclo - sure rules implementing the DAC6 Directive have a broader scope than those under the DAC6 Directive, and also include some specific local Polish hallmarks mainly applicable to distributions from Poland. 5.8 Tariffs As an EU member state, Poland applies the EU com - mon customs policy, which means that all member states apply the same rules and tariff rates to coun - tries outside the EU. As of 2025, the EU has increased tariffs on a wide range of goods imported from Russia and Belarus, as part of EU sanctions in response to Russia’s contin - ued aggression against Ukraine and Belarus’s support for the conflict, with the aim of reducing the revenue streams that could support military operations. On 17 June 2025, the European Parliament adopted a modification of customs duties applicable to imports of certain goods originating in or exported directly or indirectly from Russia and Belarus. The modifica - tion focuses on fertilisers, to which a 6.5% base tar - iff will be applied, plus a fee that will increase from EUR40–45 per ton to EUR315–430 per ton by 2028. The changes are planned from July 2025 to July 2028 but it is difficult to predict further changes in tariffs, due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Trade relations between Poland and China have recently become more strained. The European Com - mission has imposed anti-subsidy tariffs of up to 35.3% on electric vehicles imported from China. In response, China has introduced retaliatory tariffs tar - geting various European exports. Reports of nego - tiations between the EU and China appeared when trade tensions initiated by US President Donald Trump escalated. 6. Competition Law 6.1 Merger Control Notification The following transactions are subject to mandatory merger control by the PCA: • mergers;
related parties based in countries that would be tax havens under the OECD rules. The transfer pricing rules include a simplification whereby a mark-up of 5% is applied to certain low-value services, such as accounting, human resources, IT services and gen - eral services of an administrative and office nature, in recognition that these services are provided at arm’s length. It is possible to obtain an advance pricing arrange - ment from the tax authorities. An updated list of tax havens came into force on 1 January 2025, according to which the Principality of Andorra is no longer classified as a tax haven. 5.7 Anti-Evasion Rules In 2016, Poland introduced rules on counteracting tax avoidance, covering any act that satisfies both of the following conditions: • it was effected primarily for the purpose of obtain - ing a tax advantage that, in the given circumstanc - es, is an advantage contrary to the subject and purpose of tax law; and • the party that carried out the act acted in an artifi - cial manner. The tax consequences of an act identified as having been effected primarily with the aim of achieving a tax advantage are determined based on the state of affairs that would have existed if an “appropriate act” had been effected. Where circumstances indicate that the achievement of a tax benefit was the only pur - pose of carrying out the act, the tax consequences are determined in such a way as if the act had not been carried out. To obtain protection against the application of anti- avoidance rules in respect of a transaction in the future, a company or individual may apply for a so- called security ruling. The authority decides on the application over six months, and may refuse to issue a ruling if the application relates to a case of tax avoid - ance.
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