The Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the cassation appeal of the Director for the Office of National Fiscal Information against the judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Gliwice which was favourable for the Firm’s client – a foreign university – and which, in turn, overturned the individual interpretation regarding value added tax (VAT). The issued interpretation concerned the university’s status as a VAT payer in Poland, the VAT taxation of benefits from a lease accumulated in a trust account by a custodian of the estate and the legal status of the custodian. The courts upheld the Firm’s position that the interpretation was issued in breach of procedural law and with an incorrect interpretation of substantive law. The Provincial Administrative Court interpreted the provisions of the VAT Act and the Code of Civil Procedure regarding management by a custodian of the estate, accepting the Firm’s arguments. These in turn were based on the case law of the Supreme Court and the CJEU. The courts of both instances stressed that the custodian of the estate is an indirect substitute of the heir, as a result of which the Firm’s client could not dispose of the estate as an owner before taking over the inheritance. Therefore, the university was not a direct beneficiary of the rental income and the lack of authority over the estate precluded the provision of rental and usage services before taking over the inheritance. Consequently, the benefits obtained from this were not subject to VAT.
File number : I FSK 565/19
