Related parties are required to prepare transfer pricing documentation. This concept is crucial for determining documentation obligations, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with it in detail!
Related parties in Polish income tax laws
The definition of related parties is explicitly outlined in income tax laws. To classify entities as related parties, one must examine their capital, financial, and personal connections (including family ties).
Related parties
Under the applicable regulations, related parties are considered to be:
- entities where one entity exerts significant influence over at least one other entity, or
- entities on which significant influence is exerted by:
- the same other entity, or
- a spouse, relative, or in-law up to the second degree of an individual who exerts significant influence over at least one entity, or
- a partnership and its partner, or
- a spółka komandytowa, a spółka komandytowo-akcyjna, and its komplementariusz, or
- a spółka jawna and its partner, or
- a taxpayer and their foreign branch, and in the case of a tax capital group, a company that is part of the group and its foreign branch.
Exerting significant influence
Exerting significant influence, as mentioned above, is understood as:
- directly or indirectly holding at least 25% of:
- shares in the capital, or
- voting rights in controlling, governing, or managing bodies, or
- shares or rights to participate in profits, losses, or assets, or their expectancies, including participation units and investment certificates, or
- the actual ability of an individual to influence key economic decisions of a legal entity or an organizational unit without legal personality, or
- being in a marital relationship or having a kinship or affinity up to the second degree.
Moreover, if there are relationships between entities that are not established or maintained for legitimate economic reasons, including those aimed at manipulating ownership structures or creating circular ownership structures, the entities involved in such relationships are considered related parties.
Example:
Partner X holds 35% of the shares in Company A, while Partner Y holds 46% of the shares in Company B. Partner X and Partner Y are siblings. Due to the kinship between the partners, Company A and Company B are considered related entities.
Indirect relationships
When analyzing whether a relationship exists between the entities in question, it is important to keep in mind that, in addition to direct capital ties, the definition of a related party can also be met due to the presence of indirect relationships.
In such cases, the size of the indirectly held share or right corresponds to:
- the size of the share or right connecting any two entities among all entities considered when determining the indirectly held share or right, if all the shares or rights connecting these entities are equal;
- the smallest size of the share or right connecting the entities between which the size of the indirectly held share or right is being determined, if the sizes of the shares or rights connecting these entities are different;
- the sum of the sizes of the indirectly held shares or rights, if there is more than one indirectly held share or right connecting the entities between which the size of the indirectly held share or right is being determined.
Examples:
If you want to learn more about who is required to prepare transfer pricing documentation and in what circumstances, we encourage you to read our article Who is required to have transfer pricing documentation?
If you’re interested in understanding the step-by-step process of how transfer pricing works and the obligations it imposes on taxpayers, we encourage you to read our article ABC of Transfer Pricing Documentation
Dominika Oszajca
Piotr Zarański