Poland: Implementation of minimum standards according to BEPS action point 14

published on 1 June 2018

Under BEPS Action 14, countries have committed to implement a minimum standard to strengthen the effectiveness of the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP). The MAP is included in Article 25 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and commits countries to endeavour to resolve disputes related to the interpretation and application of tax treaties. The Action 14 Minimum Standard has been translated into specific terms of reference and a methodology for the peer review and monitoring process. The minimum standard is complemented by a set of best practices.

According to the published peer view report Poland has an extensive tax treaty network and has ratified the EU Arbitration Convention. Poland has an established Mutual Agreement Procedure and has significant experience with resolving MAP cases. It has a modest MAP inventory, with a modest number of new cases submitted each year and almost 80 cases pending on 31 December 2016. It has been stated that the average time to close attribution/allocation cases is ca. 38 months. In this respect, Poland recently provided additional resources to its competent authority function. It will be monitored whether these additional resources will contribute to the resolution of MAP cases in a more timely, effective and efficient manner.

In general, the performance of Poland with regard to MAP has proven to be satisfactory. It has been confirmed that Poland meets most of the elements of the Action 14 Minimum Standard.

• Preventing disputes,
• Availability and access to MAP,
• Resolution of MAP cases,
• Implementation of MAP agreements.

The report is available here »