Substancja prawna a substancja ekonomiczna w opodatkowaniu dochodów osób prawnych – granica, różnice oraz ryzyko nadużyć
Legal substance versus economic substance in the taxation of corporate income – boundaries, differences and risks of abuse

Summary/Abstract: This article addresses the relationship between legal substance and economic substance in the taxation of corporate income. The starting point is a definitional analysis of both concepts: while economic substance has been gaining increasing prominence in international and domestic tax discourse, legal substance – particularly in Poland – is still relatively rarely identified as a separate category of assessment, which may lead to an overlap between these concepts and potential interpretative challenges. The author examines the development of both categories in EU law (in particular, the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive), in the work of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (notably the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project – BEPS), as well as their reception in national legislation, with special focus on the general anti-avoidance rule and specific anti-abuse rules (such as provisions introducing limitations on interest deductibility, the taxation of controlled foreign company income, and regulations on so-called exit taxation). The article also reviews the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, with the aim of illustrating practical examples of the application of legal and economic substance and highlighting possible tensions between them. In conclusion, the author proposes moving beyond the dichotomous distinction towards an additional “control” criterion – i.e. the assessment of who, in practice, exercises decision-making power over the use and development of resources. The control test may serve as a practical tool for both tax administrations and taxpayers, enabling them to distinguish genuine business structures from artificial arrangements that are merely formally endowed with assets or attributes of legal substance. Ultimately – in the author’s view – it is control that may determine the allocation of substance to a given legal entity and thereby define the permissible limits of tax planning.

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