Understanding the requirement to document the receipt of a donation from close relatives in order to benefit from inheritance and gift tax exemption (Article 4a (1) (2) of the Act on Inheritance and Gift Tax). An approving commentary on the resolution of the Supreme Administrative Court of 20 March 2023, III FPS 3/22
Abstract
The study approvingly refers to the resolution of the Supreme Administrative Court of 20 March 2023, III FPS 3/22, adopted at the request of the Commissioner for Human Rights, on the formal and technical requirements that a taxpayer must meet to obtain an inheritance and gift tax exemption on account of receiving a donation of funds from close relatives. Contrary to the prevailing line of jurisprudence, the Supreme Administrative Court stated in the above-mentioned resolution that it is not sufficient for the donee to deposit the donation to a bank account on behalf of the donor in order to prove entitlement to a tax exemption. According to the Supreme Administrative Court, this does not make it possible to identify the parties to the donation agreement and does not achieve the purpose of the obligation to document cash donations, i.e. to tighten the tax system and prevent activities aimed at introducing cash of undetermined origin into circulation. The above-mentioned resolution indicates that the condition of documenting the acquisition of a donation is fulfilled only when the donor makes a transfer to the recipient’s bank account (or uses a postal order). This study examines the normative content of the obligation to document the acquisition of a donation of funds, aiming to dispel doubts raised by the linguistic interpretation of Article 4a (1) (2) of the Act of 28 July 1983 on inheritance and gift tax, which establishes this obligation. A dogmatic-legal research method is used in the study. The result is the claim that a recipient’s payment to their own bank account does not meet the conditions of the exemption regulated in Article 4a of the above-mentioned Act, which prompts the author to positively assess the commented resolution of the Supreme Administrative Court.
Keywords:
Inheritance and Gift Tax, donation, tax exemption, bank transfer, postal orderReferences
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