already in force | In Principle

The new Water Law entered into force on 1 January 2018. Since then, the law has been amended several times, and one such amendment has just come into force. Some provisions of the act concerning water permits have been changed as of 20 September 2018. The system of fees for water services has also been slightly modified. Moreover, several dozen changes have clarified these regulations.

Regulations introducing the split payment mechanism for VAT entered into force in Poland on 1 July 2018. This mechanism in B2B transactions is designed as a weapon in the fight against VAT fraud.

Businesses are not required to use the split payment mechanism. But the initiative left to them does force them to examine whether it would be worthwhile to take advantage of this new instrument. Lawmakers went to some effort to encourage taxpayers to say yes.

The split payment mechanism for business-to-business transactions entered into force on 1 July 2018. Introduction of this mechanism was motivated by the aim of closing gaps in the tax system. But split payment affects not only the situation of VAT payers, but also banks.

Factoring is growing rapidly in Poland. According to the Polish Factors Association, the value of receivables that are the subject of factoring is growing year on year by an average of 18%. Introduction of split payment may strike at the financial liquidity of firms seeking financing, but it may also drive growth in the factoring industry. But every rose has thorns. Split payment complicates factoring transactions and introduces new risks for factors.

Will the amendment to the Road Traffic Law draw investors wishing to test autonomous vehicles in Poland?

On 15 March 2018, the Act of 26 January 2018 amending the National Court Register Act and certain other acts came into force. Some of its provisions will come into force subsequently successively up until 1 March 2020.

Concerns about amendment to the National Court Register Act

Long-awaited regulations limiting the scope of the duty to conclude written contracts for supply of agricultural products went into force on 22 August 2017. Under the new rules, the requirement for written contracts applies only to supplies of defined groups of agricultural products from farmers operating in Poland.

An act seeking to strengthen the position of private claimants seeking damages for violation of competition law entered into force in Poland on 27 June 2017. A wave of articles have washed through the legal and business press with nearly identical titles stressing that it will be easier to win damages for losses caused by anticompetitive arrangements. But is that really the case? It will certainly be easier to try.

The amendment to the Pharmaceutical Law adopted under the slogan “pharmacies for pharmacists” entered into force on 25 June 2017. What are the strict regulations supposed to protect pharmacists against: a shortage of customers, or excessive expansion of their own business? How will this amendment function, and is there another one ahead under the slogan “pharmacies for patients”?

A new law introducing an obligation to establish anticorruption compliance procedures entered into force in France on 1 June 2017. The impact of the law may be broader than it might seem at first glance.