Obtain a certificate from the tax office of no arrears in income tax, VAT or excise tax

Do you want to obtain a certificate of no arrears in income taxes (PIT, CIT), value added tax (VAT) or excise tax or stating the amount of arrears? You may need such a document if , for example, you are applying for a loan. Read below to find out more about this procedure.

How to proceed

What you should know and who can use this service

What taxes does the certificate from the tax office refer to?

Tax offices issue a certificate of no tax arrears or stating the amount of arrears concerning the following taxes:

• income taxes (PIT or CIT)
• goods and services tax – VAT
• excise tax.

The certificate confirms your tax situation at the date of issue of the certificate. The document expires when your tax situation changes.

Such certificate is required, for instance, by banks if you are seeking a loan, or by stores for instalment payments. You also need it if you intend to participate in a tender.

Certificate issued upon request

You can apply for a certificate:

• when the provisions of law require you to show an official confirmation of no arrears or state the amount of arrears 
• to confirm no arrears or state the amount of arrears, which is necessary for your legal interest.

The tax authority will issue a certificate to you only if your application is complete. In the application, you must indicate what kind of information you require from the tax office to be confirmed in the certificate. Specifically, you must indicate whether you ask the office to confirm no tax arrears or state the amount of arrears.

Please note! The certificate does not include information on pending proceedings concerning fiscal offences or fiscal minor offences. 

The tax office may issue a decision to refuse to issue a certificate to you, for example, when you file an application for a certificate of no tax arrears and the verification procedure reveals tax arrears.

Consent for applying for the certificate

You can also apply for a certificate of no tax arrears when you want to know the tax situation of another entrepreneur. In order to obtain such a certificate, you need the consent of this entrepreneur. Such consent should be either in writing or in the form of an electronic document.

The office issues a certificate on the amount of tax arrears upon the request of:

• institutions granting credits and loans and operating under the statutory acts (for example, banks)
• the company’s contractors, as well as tenants and users of the real property
• a partner in a Civil Code partnership, registered partnership, professional partnership, limited partnership or limited joint-stock partnership
• a spouse (including divorced) when there is no community property regime* and family members (including children, also those adopted, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, siblings). This also applies to persons who have a close emotional, physical or economic relationships with the taxpayer (i.e., so-called de facto cohabitation [faktyczne pożycie]).

You do not need the consent if you have community property regime. If this is the case, submit the ORD-M statement, which confirms your situation.

When you should complete this procedure

At any time

Where you can complete this procedure

You can complete this procedure at:

• Tax Offices
• urzędy skarbowe dla największych podmiotów

What to do step by step

1. Apply for a certificate of no tax arrears

You can submit your application in writing or electronically, via the e-Tax Office portal. The e-Tax Office does not charge stamp duty on the submitted application.

Documents

2. The tax office will verify the content- and form-related aspects of your application

The office will verify if your application contains the required information. If the application has deficiencies or errors, the office will request that you correct them within 7 days. If you fail to remove the errors within the set time limit, your case will not be processed.

Before you receive the certificate, the office should verify if there are any tax arrears proceedings pending against you. If this is the case, the office must establish or determine the amount of your tax arrears. However, this will not affect the time limit set for issuing the certificate to you. If the evidence collected by the tax office allows it to issue a decision, it should be issued within the set time limit for the issuance of a certificate, so that the decision can be included in the certificate.

The office will meet the time limit, even if the proceedings cannot be completed. If this is the case, your certificate will state that there is a proceedings pending in your case.

3. You will receive a certificate

You will receive a certificate confirming your tax situation. The office can send you the document electronically or by post (remember to check such option in your application). You can also collect the certificate at the office.

Please note! If a decision has been issued to defer (in Polish only) or spread the arrears into instalments (in Polish only), the office will consider that you have no arrears by the time limit set for the repayment.

If you intend to receive a certificate for another taxpayer, then the 7-day period for the office for issuing a document for you starts from the date of submitting the consent by this taxpayer.

The office may refuse to issue a certificate to you if your request provided in the application is not consistent with the information held by the office. If this is the case, you will receive a decision, against which you can file a complaint.

Documents

How much you will have to pay

• PLN 17 – stamp duty for a special power of attorney (PPS-1) (optional)

If you file a power of attorney with a public office, you must pay the stamp duty. However, powers of attorney granted to your husband, wife, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren or siblings, are free of charge.

The stamp duty must be paid to the account of the city/town council or municipality/commune authorities with jurisdiction over the seat of the office where you file the power of attorney. The account number is available at the website of the city/town council or municipality/commune authorities. For instance, if you file the power of attorney with the City Council in Poznań, then you must pay the stamp duty to the account of the City Council in Poznań.

Practical information on the power of attorney (in Polish only).

• PLN 0 – fee for a general power of attorney (PPO-1)

You can appoint a general attorney for all tax matters. Do it online at the Tax Portal. Submitting a general power of attorney (PPO-1) is free of charge. The attorney may be any natural person with full legal capacity. The person does not have to be an advocate, attorney-at-law, or tax advisor.

Read how to report a general power of attorney (PPO-1) (in Polish only).

Please note! You do not need to attach a copy of the general power of attorney – the tax office will verify the scope of the general power of attorney itself in the Central Register of General Powers of Attorney (CRPO).

If you appoint a general attorney, you do not need to additionally appoint a special attorney (PPS-1). However, if you already have more than one attorney with the same scope of authorisation, i.e., a general and special attorney to act in the same case, then you must designate one of them as your attorney for service.

How long you will have to wait

How can you appeal

If you disagree with the office’s decision, you can lodge a complaint. You have 7 days to do so from the day you are served with the decision.

Good to know

If you need a certificate concerning the taxes and fees that you pay at an office other than the tax office:

• for real property tax or tax on means of transport – file the application with the city/town council or municipal authority competent for the address of the real property to which the certificate relates
• environmental fees – file the application with the marshal’s office competent for your place of residence or registered office.