The case concerns a woman who inherited an estate from her father, whose value is estimated at over PLN 2.7 million. The woman accepted the inheritance but did not report it to the Tax Office within the statutory deadline. The delay was 1 day. Had this happened, the heir could have benefited from a tax exemption. That did not occur, because by submitting the document late, the tax authorities decided to tax her inheritance.
The woman was to pay almost PLN 200,000
To benefit from the tax relief after receiving an inheritance, one must file a declaration with the Tax Office on form SD-Z2 within six months. For the woman, the deadline was 24 November 2020, and she filed with the tax office on 25 November 2020. The day of delay caused the tax office, under general rules, to decide to levy inheritance tax on the woman in the amount of PLN 191,453. The proceedings in this case were initiated in March 2023, and the decision on the amount of the tax was issued in February 2024. That was the deadline that, in this particular case, saved the woman from a tax obligation.
The court sided with the heir
After receiving the decision, which indicated that she would have to pay over PLN 191,000 in tax, the woman took the tax office to court, disagreeing with the decision. Initially it might have seemed that the woman was in a lost position, especially since the Wojewódzki Sąd Administracyjny in Warsaw dismissed her appeal in October 2024. The Tax Office argued that since the declaration was made after the deadline, the office could use an extended period for issuing a tax decision, which is 5 years. In such a situation the deadline would have ended at the end of 2025. The woman did not agree with that interpretation. Her view was shared by the Supreme Administrative Court, which overturned the WSA ruling. NSA concluded that the tax office should use the basic period for issuing a decision, which lasts 3 years. That period expired on 31 December 2023. Although the proceedings began in March 2023, the decision itself was issued more than a month after the deadline, in February 2024, i.e., after the official deadline.
It is worth emphasizing that the woman never questioned the fact that she was one day late in filing the declaration, but in this case she exploited the tardiness of officials, who turned out to have failed to meet the deadline themselves. This ultimately resulted in the woman not paying inheritance tax on the received inheritance.
See also: PLN 2,500 fine. Is it a business mistake or deliberate action by officials?
