As of January 1 2025, the Act of 6 November 2024 on the Top-Up Taxation of Constituent Entities of Multinational and Domestic Groups (the GloBE Act) has been in force in Poland. This act implements into Polish law Council Directive (EU) 2022/2523 of 15 December 2022 on Ensuring a Global Minimum Level of Taxation for Multinational Enterprise Groups and Large-Scale Domestic Groups in the Union.
Because Poland delayed the implementation of the directive, a regulation has been introduced that does not exist in other countries, under which GloBE taxpayers may opt (voluntarily and irrevocably) to apply the provisions of the GloBE Act retroactively; i.e., from January 1 2024. It should be emphasised that this is an optional measure; therefore, the general rule remains that the Polish GloBE provisions apply from January 1 2025.
The above option to apply the provisions of the GloBE Act with retroactive effect – or the application of the general rule (under which the provisions of the GloBE Act are to be applied from January 1 2025) – affects the fulfilment of reporting obligations by constituent entities of multinational groups (for the purposes of this article, the authors do not focus on domestic groups). The affected reporting obligations are as follows.
The GloBE Information Return (GIR) – this may be filed in the jurisdiction of the ultimate parent entity (UPE) or in the jurisdiction of an entity designated by the UPE to file the GIR, provided that:
Poland has concluded a relevant qualified GIR exchange agreement, including a multilateral agreement, or that the provisions implementing the DAC9 Directive apply; and
Polish constituent entities of multinational groups duly notify, to their respective competent tax authorities, which entity will fulfil the GIR filing obligation for the given fiscal year, and in which country.
Top-up tax returns (GloBE returns) – an obligation that cannot be fulfilled by constituent entities of a multinational group located outside Poland. The only facilitation allowed by the Polish legislator is the possibility to designate a single Polish constituent entity to file the GloBE return on behalf of that entity and other entities for which it acts.
The reporting deadlines
The GloBE Act differentiates the filing deadlines for the GIR and for GloBE returns depending on whether they are filed for the “first fiscal year” or for subsequent years.
For Poland, the “first fiscal year” is the fiscal year for which, for the first time with respect to entities located in Poland, one must calculate, among other things, the qualified domestic minimum top-up tax (QDMTT) or apply the qualified undertaxed profits rule. This is therefore relevant for determining whether extended deadlines may be used for the first reporting (until the end of the 18th or 21st month after the end of the fiscal year, respectively, for the GIR and for GloBE returns).
Even if Polish constituent entities of multinational groups first apply the GloBE provisions for 2025 (calculate the effective tax rate and, where applicable, the QDMTT), parent entities – in particular, the UPE – may be obliged to apply the income inclusion rule for 2024 with respect to Poland. In this case, 2024 will constitute the “first fiscal year”.
Consequently, even if Polish constituent entities of multinational groups are not obliged to file GIR/GloBE returns for 2024 (because the option to apply the GloBE provisions from January 1 2024 has not been chosen for them), those entities will be required to file GIR/GloBE returns for 2025 and subsequent fiscal years within the shorter deadlines (by the end of the 15th/18th month after the end of the fiscal year).
To illustrate this, if a multinational group calculated the minimum top-up tax for Poland already for 2024 (because it was required to apply the GloBE requirements from January 1 2024), then Polish constituent entities that did not opt to apply the GloBE provisions from January 1 2024 should file the GIRs for 2025 (if not filed in another jurisdiction) by March 31 2027, while the GloBE returns for 2025 should be filed by June 30 2027.
It is important to note that the first reporting obligations (with the shortest deadline) to be fulfilled in Poland will concern those constituent entities of multinational groups already within the scope of GloBE for 2024, for which the option to apply the provisions of the GloBE Act from 2024 is chosen. For such entities, the GIRs for 2024 (if not filed in another jurisdiction) must be submitted by June 30 2026, while the GloBE returns for 2024 must be submitted by September 30 2026. Thus, for these constituent entities, the deadline for the first GloBE reporting is approaching.
For multinational groups that will enter the GloBE regime in the future, the longer deadlines for fulfilling the GloBE reporting obligations – in relation to the “first fiscal year” – will apply.
