Ladies and Gentlemen,
on April 7, 2020, the government's bill on special support instruments in connection with the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was submitted to the Sejm (lower house of parliament). In the coming days, the bill will be processed by the Sejm and Senate. You can follow the legislative process at http://www.sejm.gov.pl/sejm9.nsf/proces.xsp , item 330.
The draft law is a so-called supplement to the anti-crisis shield, which has been in force since April 1, 2020. We present the most important of the proposed changes:
- Entrepreneurs who have registered no more than 49 people for social security will also be eligible for an exemption from paying social security contributions. The exemption will apply to contributions paid in the amount of 50% of the total amount of unpaid contributions shown in the settlement declaration submitted for a given month.
- Imposing an obligation on telecommunications operators to provide data on the location of people who have been quarantined for the last 14 days,
- The possibility of reducing the number of full-time positions by a maximum of 20% , but not more than 0.5 full-time positions, when reducing the number of full-time positions in connection with an application for benefits to protect jobs from the Guaranteed Social Benefits Fund. Currently, the anti-crisis shield regulations only allow for a 20% reduction in the number of full-time positions. Furthermore, wage subsidy will be available for the entire month in which the application was submitted (currently, the anti-crisis shield regulations allow for subsidy from the date of submission of the application). This also applies to subsidies granted by the staroste.
- Abolition of the ban on terminating an employment contract for an employee covered by the FGŚS wage subsidy. Current regulations prohibit terminating an employee's employment contract for reasons unrelated to the employee during the period of receiving benefits and for a three-month period following the end of that period. Following the changes, the ban on terminating an employment contract will apply only during the period of receiving the wage subsidy.
- The downtime benefit can be granted three times. Re-granting of the downtime benefit will be possible after the month following the month in which the downtime benefit was first paid. The condition for granting another downtime benefit will be submitting a declaration that the financial situation has not improved.
- Micro-entrepreneurs will be eligible to receive a loan of PLN 5,000 from the district governor (starosta), regardless of whether they employ employees. However, the loan will be forgiven upon application if they conduct business activity for a period of three months from the date the loan is granted. Currently, the regulations allow for loan forgiveness provided that the micro-entrepreneur does not reduce its headcount compared to February 29, 2020, for a period of three months from the date the loan is granted.
- Entrepreneurs have the option to renegotiate the terms of a bank loan. The final decision regarding renegotiation will rest with the bank, but due to the pandemic, the legislature allows for such a solution under a special provision.,
- Extension of deadlines for preparing local and group transfer pricing documentation. The deadlines will be extended to September 30, 2020, for local documentation and to December 31, 2020, for group documentation.
- The Act is intended to enable the Industrial Development Agency (ARP) to implement financial solutions aimed at introducing instruments to support the financial liquidity of businesses. Furthermore, the possibility of obtaining a liquidity loan with a grace period will be introduced.,
- Granting urgent status to restructuring applications. These cases, along with other types of cases listed in the anti-crisis shield, will be heard by the court despite the suspension of court proceedings due to COVID-19.
- Farmers, agri-food sector enterprises and their household members who work with them, in the event of mandatory quarantine, epidemiological supervision or hospitalization in connection with COVID-19, will be entitled to an allowance of 50% of the minimum wage,
- The possibility of delivering a shipment via electronic means of communication by Poczta Polska. The recipient of the shipment will need to consent to this and authorize the designated operator to receive registered shipments for processing and delivery as electronic documents to the recipient's email address.
- The Minister responsible for construction, spatial planning and development and housing may determine the deadline for payment of the annual fee for perpetual usufruct later than 30 June 2020, but no later than the end of 2020. The currently applicable anti-crisis shield grants such authority to the Council of Ministers,
- Extending the validity of documents, authorizations, and registrations. This solution will apply to, among others, driving licenses, permits to drive emergency vehicles or vehicles carrying cash, driver's certificates, and driving instructor IDs. If the validity of the aforementioned expires during the state of epidemic threat or epidemic, the validity of these documents, authorizations, and registrations will be extended until 60 days after the state of epidemic is lifted.
- License plates and temporary permits will remain valid for up to 14 days from the date the state of epidemic threat or epidemic is lifted. This applies to situations where the validity period of the temporary registration expired during the state of epidemic threat or epidemic.,
- Student loan repayments can be suspended for up to three months. A request to suspend loan repayments must be submitted by the end of the 2019/2020 academic year.
- Extending the validity of student ID cards and academic staff ID cards. These ID cards remain valid during the restriction of classes and for 30 days after the restriction ends, without the need to confirm their validity. This will also include ID cards that expired within 14 days preceding the restriction or suspension of university operations.
- Until 1 January 2023, birth certificates, stillbirth certificates and death certificates may be submitted to the head of the registry office in the form of an electronic document with a qualified electronic signature, a trusted signature or a personal signature..
It is worth noting that the draft law contains a provision stating that the law will not apply to entrepreneurs whose difficult financial situation is not a result of circumstances arising from prohibitions and restrictions introduced pursuant to separate provisions to prevent, counteract, and combat SARS-CoV-2 infection and the spread of the disease caused by this virus (COVID-19). Furthermore, the solutions provided for in the draft law will not be available to entrepreneurs who have been declared bankrupt or entrepreneurs for whom restructuring proceedings have been initiated.
This material was prepared on the basis of the draft act on special support instruments in connection with the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (draft version as of April 7, 2020)
