Appeal against a tax decision

A tax audit can be conducted even several years after the tax return for a given tax year has been filed. The audit procedure ends with the issuance of a tax decision. Due to the fact that there are no infallible people and the proceedings are conducted by officials who are "only" human, it happens that tax decisions contain erroneous or incorrect rulings. In such situations, it is necessary to challenge the issued tax decision by filing an appeal.

Procedure and rules tax appeal proceedings shall be governed by the provisions of Act of 29 August 1997. Tax Ordinance. It is initiated by submitting, within 14 days from the delivery of the tax decision, a written appeal. This deadline is met if, on the last day, we post the letter containing the appeal in the post office. It is extremely important that this deadline is met, as exceeding it results in the appeal not being heard. There is no fee for lodging an appeal and it does not suspend the execution of the contested decision.

Within 14 days of the receipt of our appeal, the tax authority of first instance must forward it, together with the case file, to the competent appeal authority and respond in writing to the allegations presented by us in the appeal. According to the provisions of the Tax Ordinance, the higher level tax authority, i.e. the competent tax authority to hear appeals against decisions issued by the head of the tax office is the director of the tax chamber.

If, on the other hand, the decision we wish to challenge was issued by the head of the customs office - the director of the customs chamber is already a higher level authority. A decision issued by the director of the tax inspection office may also be submitted to both of the aforementioned authorities of a higher degree. If the decision with which we do not agree has been issued by the head of the local authority, mayor or president of the city, or the head of the district authority, or the head of the voivodship - the appeal will be examined by a special collective body, which is the local government appeals board (SKO).

If a decision at first instance has been issued by a higher authority, the appeal against that decision is heard by the same authority. In certain cases, the Minister of Finance may also act as an authority of first or second instance.

After considering the appeal, the appeal authority issues a tax decision, which is final (i.e. no further appeal is allowed). There is, however, the possibility of referring the case to administrative court proceedings before the competent provincial administrative court.

The law offers many options for people who disagree with tax decisions. It is worth turning to legal adviserto choose the optimal one, i.e. one that will protect our interests.