Question Regarding Property "Sales Tax" in Poland (Canadian and Polish Citizenship)

Hello everyone,

My father has dual citizenship (Canadian and Polish) and he inherited his house after his parents passed away. He had to fly to Poland to sell the house and returned back to Canada where he permanently lives since the 80s. Before he returned he double-checked that everything was taken care of from a legal standpoint. Now nearly two years later, he is told he has to pay taxes for the house that he sold by the end of the month. Is this something that he needs to pay and if we decide to return to Poland for a vacation in the future, would there be any repercussions from not paying the taxes?

We have called several lawyers in Poland and they either say yes or no to paying the taxes so they are unsure themselves. Has anyone else come across this and if so, what should be done?

Please, I ask for your assistance because we are at a loss.

The problem is that if you sell a residence (which belonged to you) and in which you have not lived for the last 5 years you are liable to taxes on the sale of property. If you invest the money in another property (within a timescale, I think 2 years) you do not pay the tax.

Check once again.
This Law applies to all people (Polish and foreign) selling properties in Poland.

There would have been no inhertitance tax to pay on acquiring the property but if was sold within 5 years of being signed over after the death of his father then you are liable to pay tax of 19.5% of the sale price given that the difference between the sale price and acquisition price is effectively the same as the sale price in this case. Im not a lawyer but thats first base in terms of sales tax if you like.

Urzad Skarbowy will send letters and eventually at the end of the process there will be court summons. However it will probably end there while the father doesnt travel to Poland. If he does travel there is a risk he could be stopped at the border in regards to the case.