On 1.01.2022 the tax amendments as part of the Polish Deal became effective, including among other things the so-called ‘heritage relief’.

Eligible for the new relief are owners or co-owners of immovable monuments who are taxpayers in personal income tax and pay tax in accordance with the standard tax scale, a flat-rate tax or as lump sum on registered income.

The relief for heritage buildings allows the following deductions to be made from one’s income/revenue:

• 50% of the expenditure incurred in making contributions to the renovation fund of a residential community or housing cooperative, for an immovable monument registered with a register of historical monuments or present in historical monument records as evidenced by a proof of payment,
• 50% of the expenditure incurred on conservation, restoration or construction works carried out with respect to an immovable monument entered in the register of historical monuments or being in relevant monument records, as documented by invoices, or
• in the case of acquisition of an immovable monument, the amount being the product of PLN 500 and the number of square metres of the surface area of the monument, but not more than PLN 500,000, for the tax year in which the taxpayer incurred renovation or conservation expenses with respect to the acquired property.

Immovable heritage comprises:

• works of architecture and construction,
• defence construction works,
• technology sites, in particular mines, steelworks, power stations and other industrial facilities.

Applying the relief in the event of conservation, renovation or construction works on an immovable historical monument is conditional on the taxpayer holding, as at the time the relevant expense is incurred, the following documents in writing:

• Provincial (Voivodship) Monument Conservator’s permit to carry out conservation, renovation or construction works with respect to an immovable historical monument entered into the register of historical monuments;
• Conservation recommendations with respect to an immovable historical monument entered into the relevant Provincial or Communal monument records.

The deductions under a historical monument relief are reported in the tax return for the year in which the expenses were incurred. If the amount cannot be deducted in whole or in part, it is then possible to deduct the monument relief over the subsequent tax years, not longer than 6 years, counting from the end of the tax year in which the deductions were first made.

Spouses under a marital co-ownership regime may also deduct the monument relief in equal parts or in any proportion agreed between them, regardless of whether the document confirming the expenses incurred was issued in the name of both spouses or only one of them.

The following expenses are not deductible:

1. expenses which have already been deducted by the taxpayer from the income taxed with the lump sum tax on registered income,
2. expenses which were settled on the basis of other tax reliefs,
3. expenses exceeding the scope of works specified in the permit of the Voivodship Monument Conservator or Conservator's recommendations,
4. expenses which have been financed, subsidised or refunded to the taxpayer in any form.

A taxpayer who applied the relief and was subsequently reimbursed for those expenses will be required to include the reimbursed amounts in his income for the tax year in which he received the reimbursement.

This is an appealing new relief that enables owners and co-owners of immovable monuments to deduct from their income/revenue expenses incurred in restoring the monuments. Due to the nature of these properties, these expenses usually entail a considerable financial burden to the property owners (usually due to additional restrictions imposed by the conservator or other authorities supervising historical monuments). These expenses also have to be borne by the respective owners over a limited period of time in order to be able to continue operating the monument or to avoid its dilapidation.

Martyna Przegalińska, Tax Consultant, ATA Tax Sp. z o.o.

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