Punitive 70% severance tax: the WSA in Gdańsk sides with the taxpayer
The punitive 70% severance tax was intended as a tool to limit high severance packages in state-controlled companies. In practice, however, it is applied far more often than it should be—sometimes even to individuals who are not senior managers. What is more, taxpayers who have doubts increasingly cannot obtain a substantive individual tax ruling, because the Head of the National Revenue Information (Director of KIS) refuses to issue it right away. The refusal is justified by an “justified suspicion” of tax avoidance (Article 119a of the Polish Tax Ordinance). In a judgment of 15 October 2025, case no. I SA/Gd 626/25, the Voivodeship Administrative Court (WSA) in Gdańsk criticised this practice.






