Can the tax authority make factual findings when issuing an interpretation?
Pursuant to Article 14b § 3 of the Tax Ordinance of August 29, 1997 (the “Act”), a person filing an application for an individual interpretation is required to fully present the factual state of affairs or a future event, and to present their own position on the legal assessment of that factual state or future event.
On the basis of the facts so presented, the tax authority shall issue a tax interpretation. As stipulated in Article 14c § 1 of the Act, an individual interpretation contains an exhaustive description of the factual state or future event presented in the application, as well as an assessment of the applicant’s position with legal justification of that assessment.
In view of the wording of the above regulations, the tax authority, when issuing a tax interpretation, is bound by the state of facts described by the applicant and does not have the right to make its own factual findings and go beyond the state of facts described in the application for this interpretation. Nor does it have the right to question the state of facts presented by the applicant.
The above conclusions were confirmed by the Supreme Administrative Court in two independent property tax cases (III FSK 1075/23 and III FSK 1079/23), in which SRC Law Firm represented one of the world’s largest food manufacturers and a heating network administrator. On behalf of SRC Law Firm, the case was handled by Alicja Popłonkowska-Dębińska, attorney-at-law.
