An uncompleted EU procedure is delaying a tax exemption for Polish rail freight terminals. The European Union has to approve of the exemption, as EU law considers it to be state aid that may distort competition on the European single market.
An amendment to Polish tax rules exempts rail freight terminals from real estate tax. With the tax relief, Poland intends to equalise the tax burden between rail freight terminals and terminals of other transport modalities, such as road terminals.
The Polish finance minister, Andrzej Domański, provided an update on the state of a tax exemption for rail freight terminals earlier this month. For the time being, Poland cannot apply the tax exemption. The tax relief first has to get the green light from the European Commission (EC).
State aid
Such a measure is considered to amount to state aid in EU law. In order to prevent state aid from creating competition distortions in the EU’s single market, the measure first has to be approved by the EC.
Poland has not yet obtained such approval. The exemption was initially planned to go into force on 1 January 2023, and a notification was sent to the EC. Poland ended up delaying the entry into force until 1 January 2024, which led to a procedural mistake with the EC notification. In practice, this means that terminal operators cannot file for a tax exemption until the EC approves the relief measure.
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