Employee revenues arising from accommodation ensured by employer for the duration of posting away from place of residence

Abstract

Free-of-charge employee benefits are becoming an increasingly common phenomenon in employment relationships. In fact, they are often a significant non-cash incentive system. Despite numerous rulings of the Supreme Administrative Court and the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal, the issue of income taxation of such benefits still raises considerable doubts. There is no definition of this concept included in the Tax Act and its grammatical interpretation does not provide an unambiguous answer as to which of benefits offered to employees by an employer should be considered as taxable pursuant to Article 12 (1) of the Personal Income Tax Act.

The article is aimed at demonstrating, on the example of taxation of employer-financed accommodation of employees posted to work away from their place of residence, that in a situation when the legislator does not create (and does not define) institutions and concepts specific to tax law – concepts and principles developed in other branches of law should be used. Tax law is an element of the legal system and solutions resulting therefrom should be harmonized with standards of other branches. The legal system should be coherent (free from inconsistencies) and complete (free from gaps). Revenues from an employment relationship comprise all benefits that an employee receives from an employer in relation to being in an employment relationship. In this situation, it is therefore practical to interpret tax law in connection with relevant labor law regulations.