| In Principle

Protection of all categories of staff, including job candidates and former employees. A broad range of infringements subject to reporting. Protection of whistleblowers against all retaliatory measures, including defamation suits. A duty to establish internal whistleblowing procedures. These are just a few of the points included in the guidelines for the bill implementing the EU’s Whistleblower Directive.

Dr Radosław Wiśniewski explains the problem of claims by pre-war property owners (and most often their heirs), which must be taken into account when purchasing real estate and pose a risk for transactions.

Traditionally, a mystery shopper is used for business audits and customer satisfaction surveys. Since 2016, the president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has also been entitled to use this legal instrument. But in each case the authority must obtain prior approval of the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.

The game development market in Poland and worldwide is steadily growing, and ambitious companies from the game sector are looking for ways to increase brand recognition and raise funds for new productions. This leads them to consider listing their shares on the stock exchange. So the question is, who can go public, what is to be gained from doing so, and how to go about it?

In 2017, the possibility of obtaining a doctoral degree under an industrial doctoral programme was introduced in Poland. This is designed to support innovation by facilitating cooperation between business and universities and scientific research institutes. The doctoral dissertation prepared under the programme is intended to improve the operations of a specific company or solve a technological problem faced by the company employing the doctoral student.

Sometimes typos occur when preparing bid documents, and can be corrected by the contracting authority if the contractor provides the required clarification. But not all mistakes can be cured, especially those concerning the bid price, as they directly affect the contractor’s position in the ranking. An example of such a mistake is when a price is given in figures and then restated differently in words. The National Appeal Chamber explained in its ruling of 1 June 2021 (case no. KIO 1040/21) why such a mistake cannot be corrected.

In this episode, Wojciech Marszałkowski explains transfer pricing compliance obligations. What is the arm’s-length principle? When do taxpayers have to prepare documentation describing most cross-border transactions? What are the peculiarities of the Polish transfer pricing regulations? What are the rules regarding indirect transactions with tax havens? When can taxpayers be required to prepare a “master file”?

Recent amendments to civil procedure in Poland (especially the one dated July 2019) have raised numerous doubts on how to interpret the Civil Procedure Code, in particular provisions on service of court documents, justifications for rulings, and appeals. Some of these ambiguities have caused lots of problems for parties and their counsel, as incorrect application of these regulations can have severe consequences and even result in losing the case on procedural grounds. Some of the doubts concerning justifications for rulings were recently clarified by the Supreme Court of Poland.

For the costs of developing a computer game to be tax-deductible, they must meet certain criteria. Tax-deductible costs are costs incurred for the purpose of earning revenue from a source of revenue or retaining or securing a source of revenue, except for costs expressly excluded from tax-deductible costs. The method of accounting for these costs depends on whether work on the creation of a new game can be regarded as development work.

A revised bill to amend tax regulations as part of the “Polish Deal” has been submitted to the parliament. How do the proposals involving transfer pricing look now?

On 2 September 2021, a government bill to amend the Commercial Companies Code and other acts was submitted to the Sejm for a first reading. Among other things, the bill would introduce new principles into the Polish legal system in the form of a holding companies law, regulating the cooperation between parent companies and their subsidiaries. The rules for liability of management board and supervisory board members are also to be amended, vesting broader powers in supervisory boards to make corporate governance more effective.

According to the government bill to amend the Commercial Companies Code, a parent company could issue binding instructions to a subsidiary if justified by the interest of the corporate group and not barred by specific regulations. The new powers of a parent company are balanced by provisions regulating its liability for injury caused in connection with issuing binding instructions.