Aid for energy-intensive enterprises exempt from CIT

In May 2025, the law firm of Rödl & Partner won a precedent dispute with the Head of the National Revenue Information Service (NRIS) before the Provincial Administrative Court (PAC) in Olsztyn concerning a tax exemption for aid provided to energy-intensive enterprises in 2022–2024.

The PAC in Olsztyn has accepted our claims, both on the merits and on the procedural grounds, and the vast argumentation presented by our law firm. The Court has emphasised, among other things, that the compensation paid to energy-intensive enterprises under the government aid schemes is indeed a subsidy in the meaning of Article 17(1)(47) of the CIT Act and as such is exempt from tax. 

The Court has further ruled that the only condition to enjoy the exemption is for the aid to come from the state or local government’s budget. The PAC has stressed especially the interpretation of the disputed provision in the context of the EU law, including the Member States’ obligation to fulfil the Union’s tasks and avoid any actions that could jeopardise the Union’s objectives. The Court has assessed that corporate income tax on aid for energy-intensive industries following the sudden spikes in gas and electricity prices in 2022–2024 would undoubtedly be such an action.

The court has also addressed procedural aspects, stating that the NRIS’s too brief reference in its advance tax ruling to other rulings which the applicant has invoked to support his case, or no such reference at all, is in breach of the rules of procedure. It is also not enough to state that the court judgments or advance tax rulings mentioned in the application have been issued in matters of other applicants and cannot be treated as a source of rights and obligations for other taxpayers. Such a statement should be backed by legal arguments telling the party why said judgements or rulings do not apply in its case, or why the authority believes that the approach presented in the cited rulings is wrong.