The beginning of each year is not only a time to put your New Year's resolutions into practice, but also a time for settling accounts with the tax office.
The "Your e-PIT" service, introduced in 2019, is a significant convenience for taxpayers. After logging in to the service via the ePUAP platform (e.g., through online banking) or entering taxpayer authorization data (including a PESEL number or the amount of income indicated in any PIT return filed in 2020), taxpayers will be able to use the PIT-28, PIT-36, PIT-37, or PIT-38 return prepared for them.
Unfortunately, as the Ministry of Finance informed in response to a question from "Rzeczpospolita," " the Your e-PIT service will not provide returns for entrepreneurs ." This means that taxpayers running a business, as in previous years, will have to complete their 2020 PIT returns themselves.
It is therefore worth recalling the amendment to the Personal Income Tax Act of 26 July 1991 (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1426), in force from January 1, 2019. Pursuant to art. 45 sec. 1 of the Personal Income Tax Act, taxpayers are obliged to submit to tax offices a return, using a prescribed format, on the amount of income earned (loss incurred) in the tax year, by February 15th to April 30th of the year following the tax year . Returns filed before the beginning of the deadline are deemed to have been filed on February 15th of the year following the tax year. In turn, as we read in sec. 1a of the analyzed provision, by the deadline specified in sec. 1, taxpayers are obliged to submit to tax offices separate returns, using prescribed formats, on the amount of income earned (loss incurred) in the tax year from:
- capital taxed under the principles set out in Article 30b (19% tax on the sale of shares and financial instruments);
- non-agricultural business activities or special branches of agricultural production, taxed under the principles set out in Article 30c ( flat tax);
- paid disposal of real estate and property rights taxed under the principles set out in Article 30e (Tax on the disposal of real estate).
As a result of the above change, individuals running a business will not be able to offset overpayments against future taxes, for example VAT for December 2020, the payment deadline for which is January 25, 2021. Currently, this option will only be available in February.
Under the previous legal regime, i.e., prior to 2019, tax returns could be filed from January 1st to April 30th of the year following the tax year to which the return pertained. Under the previous system, entrepreneurs often filed their tax returns at the very beginning of January to offset any resulting overpayment against other taxes, such as VAT for December, which, as mentioned above, is due on January 25th.
The deadline for refunding overpayments will run from February 15th. It's worth remembering that the waiting time for a refund depends on the form of filing the return. It can take up to 45 days for returns filed electronically, and up to three months from the date of filing the return for paper returns.
When discussing the topic of filing tax returns, it's impossible not to mention the applicable deadlines for fulfilling this obligation
- by February 1, 2021 , you must submit the PIT-16A tax (tax card), PIT-19A (for clergy);
- by March 1, 2021 PIT-28 tax return (income of taxpayers who decided to settle on a lump sum basis on recorded income)
- by April 30, 2021 , is the deadline for submitting the following tax return: PIT-36 (for taxpayers who in a given tax year conducted non-agricultural business activities taxed according to general principles using the tax scale, as well as special sections), PIT-36L (flat tax), PIT-37 (taxpayers earning income only from, e.g., employment contracts, contracts for specific work); PIT-38 (capital gains), PIT-39 (income from the sale of real estate).
The current forms have already been made available and can be found on the Ministry of Finance website at:
https://www.podatki.gov.pl/pit/formularze-do-druku-pit/
