Tajemnica zawodowa radcy prawnego jako środek ochrony podatnika. Schematy podatkowe wobec tajemnicy radcowskiej
Legal professional privilege as a means of protecting the taxpayer. Tax schemes vs. professional secrecy of attorney-at-law

Summary/Abstract: Since 2019, the possibility of waiving the obligation of professional secrecy by operation of law has arisen from regulations concerning the obligation to disclose information regarding so-called tax schemes. These regulations are the provisions of Chapter 11a, Section III of the Tax Ordinance, resulting from the transposition of Council Directive (EU) 2018/822. They introduced an obligation for promoters – i.e., in practice, attorneys-at-law – to collect and disclose to the tax administration structures that taxpayers can use to optimize their tax performance. Due to the risk of breaching professional secrecy in fulfilling these obligations, these issues were the subject of a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. They also formed the basis for issuing a general tax ruling regarding legally protected professional secrecy under the provisions on tax schemes. Although attorneys-at-law were exempt from the reporting obligation due to their legally protected professional secrecy, this exemption does not apply to all types of tax schemes subject to the disclosure obligation. This prompts reflection on the scope of protection of professional secrecy, a comprehensive approach to which leads to the conclusion that its protection is an element of the human rights protection system, thereby strengthening the legal position of the taxpayer.

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