2. INTRODUCTION
• A lease is a contract whereby the owner of an asset (the lessor)
grants to another party (the lessee) the exclusive right to use
the asset in return for the payment of rent.
• Total worth of the Polish Leasing Market –
CHF zł.22.2 billion (as of December 31, 2011)
9. •LEGAL BACKGROUND
• Leasing agreement is an agreement which is regulated
separately by the Polish Civil Code.
• leasing is an agreement under which a lessor undertakes to
purchase an asset from a given seller and release it to the lessee
for use.
• The lease contract is deemed invalid if it is not concluded in
writing.
10. •TAX PROVISIONS
• Corporate Profit Tax [CIT]
• In line with the general definition envisaged in the CIT Act, lease
agreement is an agreement referred to in the Civil Code, as well as
any other agreement, under which a lessor gives to the lessee for use
against a consideration or for deriving benefits depreciable fixed or
intangible assets as well as land.
• The above definition does not cover the perpetual usufruct rights,
which gave rise to the standpoint expressed by the Ministry of
Finance that such rights cannot be subject to the lease agreement.
• The provisions of Polish tax law do not explicitly refer to such terms
as operating and financial lease; however in practice these terms are
commonly used.
11. Operating leasing
• In order to treat the agreement as an operating lease, the following
conditions have to be met:
• a) the leasing agreement has been concluded for definitive period of
time, constituting at least 40% of the normative depreciation period
(the period in which tax depreciation write-offs become equal to the
initial value of the fixed asset), if it concerns movables or intangible
assets, or has been concluded for a period of at least 10 years, in the
case of real property; and
• b) the total of payments (less VAT), corresponds to at least the initial
value of the assets
12. •Financial leasing
• In order for an agreement to be qualified as financial leasing,
the following conditions have to be met:
• a) the lease agreement has been concluded for a definite period
of time;
b) the total of payments (less VAT) corresponds to at least the
initial value of the assets; c) the agreement provides that during
the primary lease period, depreciation write-offs are to be made
by the lessee
13. • Special rules for passenger cars
• Leasing as supply of goods
The Polish VAT provisions treat as a supply of goods the release of goods
under the lease contract that satisfies the following conditions: is
qualified as financial lease under the CIT provisions (i.e. depreciation
write-offs are made by the lessee) and - provides that in the normal
course of events envisaged in the contract or at the latest upon payment
of the final installment, ownership shall pass to the lessee
• Leasing as supply of services
Other lease agreements that do not satisfy the conditions to be
classified as supply of goods for VAT purposes, are treated as supply of
services
