Law News: EJT head in Warsaw; Abolition of fines tariff; Hygiene exams

Professor Gil Carlos Rodrigues Iglesias, the head of the European Justice Tribunal in Luxembourg is paying an official visit to Warsaw. Today, at the Supreme Court he will give a lecture on "Superiority of acquis communaire over national law in EJT's rulings". (Rzeczpospolita, p. C1) ... The g overnment wants to withdraw the tariff of fines which are applied when regulations (such as traffic laws) are breached. This is strongly opposed by the majority of MPs who demand the table be more precise, rather than more flexible which could increase corruption. (Rzeczpospolita, p. C1) ... As of today employees working in food processing companies will have to show knowledge of hygiene practices. If they fail a test, the National Sanitary Inspectorate (PIS) may even consider shutting down the business (Puls Biznesu, p. 9; Rzeczpospolita, p. C1) J.K. Tax News: Health are not costs; Optimus; Share losses; Tax break through children? A company cannot treat its expenditure on health insurance of its employees and their families as part of its cost, the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) has ruled. The only way round this is to pay employees a bonus which they can spend on healthcare. (Gazeta Wyborcza, March 15) ... The Pros ecutor's Office will appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court against the tax office's decision to write-off Optimus VAT liabilities (Puls Biznesu, March 17) ... Companies which recorded share investment losses have five years to write them off as costs, restated a Deputy Finance Minister. The regulations concerning the issue already exist and the Ministry says it has no plans of changing them. (Parkiet, March 15) ... The income of underage children (both natural and adopted) are not added to their parents income and therefore should be taxed separately, the Finance Ministry wrote on its official website (Gazeta Prawna, March 14) (Tax News is based on Price waterhouseCoopers Tax Department web service, www.taxonline.pl) J.K.