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Urząd Skarbowy, I paid too little on my last PIT?


sobieski 106 | 2,118
8 Aug 2010 #1
Got last Friday a registered letter from the local tax office... Seems I paid 13,98 PLN too less on my last PIT...God help me :)
mafketis 36 | 10,707
8 Aug 2010 #2
Been nice knowing ya, maybe they'll let you write from the re-education camp....
ShawnH 8 | 1,497
8 Aug 2010 #3
Seems I paid 13,98 PLN too less on my last PIT.

Run away!
Seanus 15 | 19,674
8 Aug 2010 #4
They are precise to the exact groszy here and they let nothing slide. My accountant has screwed up my PIT consistently well ;)
OP sobieski 106 | 2,118
8 Aug 2010 #5
I am just wondering how much it costed them to make the file :)
As I know these days in my native Belgium the IRS does not bother with claims under 3 Euro - costwise I think a sound decision,
jonni 16 | 2,482
8 Aug 2010 #6
My accountant has screwed up my PIT consistently well ;)

I wish they'd stop calling bookkeepers accountants. A very different thing and a very different level of expertise.
Seanus 15 | 19,674
8 Aug 2010 #7
That's true! However, he is a fully-certified accountant.
OP sobieski 106 | 2,118
9 Aug 2010 #8
I just wanted to play safe - did not want them to put me on the first available flight to Brussels :) - so went to pay :)
enkidu 7 | 623
9 Aug 2010 #9
It wont help you. You are doomed.
Man - this is Urząd Skarbowy! They are like evil men in black.
Misery, pain, darkness and no hope - it's your future. Because now they are aware of your pity existence. The Eye of Sauron is looking straight at you.

Go to the woods! Hide in the forest! It wont help you either, but at least this may give a slight chance of survival for your family, friends and neighbours.

Man - you are done.
Olaf 6 | 955
26 Aug 2010 #10
13,98 PLN

I once had a similar problem, also by mistake someone put the amount to Urzad Skarbowy but 14 grosz too little.
Fourteen groszy. OK. They summoned me. Told me what my crime was. I pleaded a mild sentence and promised to go downstairs and pay this right away. Downstairs (and everywhere else, like my bank) they said you can't make a bank transfer for such a low amount. OK. Went back to tell the Skarbowe ladies that we have a problem and I'll gladly pay it to them or to some kasa in urzad. No can do.

To sum up: two registered mail letter to inform me about the situation costed around 10 złoty. The "debt" was 0.14 złoty.
Harry
26 Aug 2010 #11
I got a letter from the administration of my building last week demanding that I pay them minus two thousand zloty which is outstanding on my account with them or they'd take me to court.
Seanus 15 | 19,674
26 Aug 2010 #12
Oh, they are too precise and that much I have learned. My accountant was wrong to the tune of 1,100PLN or so, so what would I be were I to calculate it myself? I got my rebate today. Yes, to the exact grosz. It's a fiddly business!

To the OP, ask sb at the tax office to sort it out. They helped me once and were thoroughly professional about it.
Olaf 6 | 955
27 Aug 2010 #13
I pay them minus two thousand zloty

- In response maybe take them to court and demand it - You'll be + 2000 right?\

You are not their favourite tenant, aren't ya?
Seanus 15 | 19,674
27 Aug 2010 #14
You are not, are you? (is better)

Seriously, letting issues linger is not the way with the tax office. They will come down on you like a ton(ne) of bricks. I didn't pay tax for some time but got off with it. Others aren't so lucky.
Olaf 6 | 955
29 Aug 2010 #15
You are not, are you? (is better)

;) of course, I was remodeling this sentence twice or so and the question tag stayed and now it looks silly.
FUZZYWICKETS 8 | 1,879
29 Aug 2010 #16
hahaha, this is funny.

yeah, don't mess with Urzad Skarbowy. i learned that during my first week of work here. every teacher/director of the school told me, "the last thing you want to do is mess something up with your taxes."
cjj - | 281
30 Aug 2010 #17
We've had consistently polite and helpful behaviour from our local U.S. ... I have to say this, because we expected the exact obvious.
BLS 65 | 188
30 Aug 2010 #18
I have never underpaid, but I overpaid once - I was seriously worried that they would come after me for that! Another time, I waited until the 21st to pay - needless to say, I was worried about this as well. However, my accountant told me that they would allow me a couple of late payments...I hope she's right.
delphiandomine 88 | 18,163
30 Aug 2010 #19
As I recall, if you overpay, they'll just credit it against your account until the end of the year - the only issue is that you need to make sure that the overpayment is accounted for properly.

Being late is dodgy though, but I guess they aren't going to be too bothered about one late payment of a couple of days!
jonni 16 | 2,482
12 Oct 2010 #20
You know, people complain about the Polish tax office, but they are an oasis of sanity and reason compared with Britain's Inland Revenue.
terri 1 | 1,663
12 Oct 2010 #21
You must pay up or else...... Even if you only owe 1 grosz, you could be put on a 'blacklist of debtors - and then getting credit will be nothing short of a miracle.

Do whatever is necessary, but pay up as soon as possible, before they start charging you interest (odsetlki)which you also have to pay up.

The same thing happened to me years ago when I was working in Poland. I think I owed 40PLN, but had to make a special trip from the UK and pay Urzad Skarbowy in Warsaw. At least I can sleep at nights now.
delphiandomine 88 | 18,163
12 Oct 2010 #22
Indeed - the UK system has no equal (as far as I know?) to the system in Poland where you can get an official decision from them. I remember attending one tax course with an inspector - he made it very clear that even if HMRC advises you to do something, an inspector can still have a different opinion and punish you accordingly.

I'd say that dealing with the Polish tax office is, on the whole, far easier than dealing with HMRC's telephone monkeys.
jonni 16 | 2,482
12 Oct 2010 #23
telephone monkeys.

That was the problem. I had to sort out two issues, one for myself (getting money off them) which was OK, and one for my Polish ex who needed a notification of coding. The cow who I dealt with about the Polish person (I was doing the accent etc) was unbelievable. I suspect a bit of Xenophobia. she was actually shouting loudly.
cms 9 | 1,255
13 Oct 2010 #24
But a binding ruling from the tax office is

a) time consuming to obtain (3 months for a written ruling) and in my experience its much more difficult to get a positive ruling without employing a specialist.

b) not straightforward as even minor errors in the implementation of what you got the ruling on mean that it can be overturned.

c) illogical in that you have to get a binding ruling for each individual case - say you have 10 employees and you want a ruling on their bonus scheme then you need 10 separate rulings.
delphiandomine 88 | 18,163
13 Oct 2010 #25
But a binding ruling from the tax office is

Yup, it's not perfect - but still a damn sight better than the UK's approach where no-one will actually give you binding advice whatsoever.
cms 9 | 1,255
13 Oct 2010 #26
Its 15 years since I last practiced in the UK but as an experienced ACA I can confidently say that dealing with the UK tax offices is many times easier than dealing with the Poles.

No, there are no binding rulings but they will almost never go back on items that have been discussed and documented with inspectors unless they think you intended to decieve them or didnt disclose things on purpose.

In Poland you never get face to face access with the people issuing the rulings in order to clarify your case and the only way you can seem to have a reasonable discussion is by hiring external advisers who know the right people there. The time of getting the ruling is so long that often you have to take a decision in the meantime which may end up costing you money. The even bigger frustration is that each regional tax office has its own rulings meaning what you agreed in Warsaw doesnt apply in Lodz - try applying that to a nationwide operation and see how much time you end up wasting !

The World Banks rankings on ease of paying tax show UK at number 16 and Poland at number 151 just ahead of Armenia and the Ivory Coast.

Its even much lower than its CEE peers (Czech 121 and Hungary 122). The other countries where I have worked also come in with rankings that I think reflect their increased complexity compared to the UK - America is 61 and Germany is 71.


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