The amendment to the Local Taxes and Fees Act, which entered into force on January 1, 2025, was intended to eliminate interpretational doubts regarding the classification of facilities. It has brought numerous changes and new uncertainties. An interesting example is the recent individual interpretation issued by the Mayor of Poznań. The dispute concerned the tax status of a newly constructed High Storage Warehouse (MWS).
Two entities jointly submitted a request for an interpretation: a brewing company acting as the lessee and a financing institution acting as the lessor. The brewing company constructed a foundation on its own land, upon which the financing entity erects the warehouse structure under a lease agreement concluded for a fixed term of sixty months. This facility will be connected to the foundation using anchor boxes and bolts. After the lease period expires, if the company does not choose the purchase option, it can be dismantled and taken away by the financing entity. According to the assumptions, the warehouse will only store finished products in the form of beer in cans, bottles, and kegs. In connection with this investment, the entrepreneurs raised two key questions: whether this facility should be taxed as a building or a structure, and who should pay property tax on it.
Regarding the tax classification of the MWS, the applicants argued that it was a building subject to taxation based on its usable area. They argued that beer sealed in cans and bottles is a finished product, not a liquid material. Furthermore, the construction design did not explicitly specify the capacity parameter, using only the concept of cubic capacity. However, the tax authority deemed this position incorrect. The Mayor of Poznań noted that beer, as a beverage, meets all the dictionary characteristics of a liquid substance. The fact that this liquid is contained in individual packages is merely a logistical and technical method of storage, which does not affect the physical properties of the substance itself. Therefore, it was concluded that the facility would actually store material in liquid form. Referring to the technical parameters, the authority pointed out that, according to the Polish language dictionary, the concept of cubic capacity is equivalent to the concept of capacity. Considering that capacity determines the economic potential of this warehouse, the authority considered it the primary parameter determining its intended use. Consequently, the MWS meets the so-called negative conditions for buildings and, under the new regulations, constitutes a structure. This also means that all installations ensuring its operation will be subject to taxation as a structure.
The second part of the interpretation concerned the determination of the entity liable for the tax. The principle of civil law is that anything permanently attached to land shares its legal status and becomes the property of the land's owner. In this respect, the tax authority agreed with the applicants' arguments, finding their position to be correct. The authority noted that the High Storage Warehouse was constructed in this case solely for temporary use, as clearly indicated by the lease agreement concluded for a predetermined period and the confirmed technical feasibility of dismantling the warehouse without damaging the foundations. Due to this fact, the structure in question does not become a component of the brewery's land property under civil law, but constitutes a separate property. Therefore, the obligation to pay property tax for this specific structure rests with its actual owner, who is the institution financing the investment.
This interpretation clearly illustrates the direction in which the regulations are being applied in practice following the amendment. Tax authorities focus on the technical and physical aspects of a facility, often disregarding its economic or intuitive nature. As a result, a warehouse, which from the perspective of an entrepreneur is an "ordinary building," may be treated as a specialized structure.
In practice, this means a much more thorough analysis is necessary at the investment planning stage. Parameters such as the volume, the facility's intended use, and even the physical state of the stored goods can determine the tax rate. Given rising rates and increasingly restrictive interpretations of regulations, incorrect classification can prove costly.
This case also demonstrates that the line between a building and a structure is not only blurring but is actually shifting towards solutions that are less favorable to taxpayers. Therefore, it's worth analyzing every warehouse investment not only through the lens of construction or business law, but also—and perhaps above all—tax law.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
The law is current as of March 30, 2026.
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