Statut spadkowy w postępowaniu dotyczącym podatku od spadku. Glosa do wyroku Naczelnego Sądu Administracyjnego z dnia 16 maja 2019 r., II FSK 1811/18

Abstract

The Supreme Administrative Court has correctly adjudicated that without determining which inheritance law is applicable to the inheritance from the testator, the tax authority cannot categorically claim that an heir subject to inheritance and donation tax acquired the ownership of things or rights by inheritance at the time of the testator’s death. The ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court is also an opportunity to take a broader look at the provisions of the Act of the 28th of July 1983 on inheritance and donation tax which go beyond the issues covered by this jurisdiction. That act also raises other issues the resolution of which requires the application of conflict-of-law rules or, at the very least, of the methods of qualification specific to private international law.The position adopted by the Supreme Administrative Court in this verdict should contribute to the increase of the interest of tax authorities in conflict-of-law issues. Inheritance and donation tax is a public levy with which, due to the nature of the legal events covered by it, there are cases with the so-called „foreign element”. These are also of interest to the conflict-of-law rules. When considering them, as follows from the ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court, it is necessary to refer not only to our own (Polish) provisions of civil law, but also, by applying appropriate conflict-of-law rules, to the provisions of foreign civil law.