A tax retainer is ongoing tax support for your company within a monthly pool of hours: answers to questions on PIT, CIT and VAT for the entrepreneur and the accountant, given while the decision is still open. It is the same retainer as our ongoing legal services, that is one agreement and one pool of hours, which you divide between tax and legal matters.
Sun Tzu taught that the best victory is the one won without fighting. A great strategist wins battles before they begin. An average one wins the battles that are fought. A weak one loses battles he never had to fight.
In tax, the battle is an audit, a set of proceedings, a dispute with the authority. Each costs time, money and peace of mind, and many could have been avoided by asking the right question earlier. That is what a tax retainer is for: it settles doubts before they become mistakes, and mistakes before they become disputes.
A question asked before a transaction allows you to shape it. Asked after the transaction, it allows you at most to limit the damage. Asked after an audit, it no longer changes the transaction. What remains is the defence of the position taken, which we also handle, but with a different effort and outside the pool. On a retainer you therefore ask while the decision is still open, not when the adviser has a free slot.
The tax retainer in practice
Three areas
PIT and CIT
Does this transaction generate revenue? Is this expense deductible? Does an advance payment have to be withheld? The questions look simple until you see how many rulings they generate.
VAT
Where the tax point arises, which rate applies, whether input tax can be deducted. It is the tax with the smallest margin of error and the largest consequences.
Special taxes
Excise duty, inheritance and gift tax, sector levies. They appear less often, but they require knowledge you do not need every day.
The accountant and the entrepreneur
Two rhythms, one pool of hours
The accountant sees a transaction when it reaches the system. It has to be booked today, not next week, and the accountant needs an answer, not a lecture.
The entrepreneur sees a transaction before it happens. He negotiates the contract, plans the investment and has time for questions, if he knows he should ask them.
The retainer serves both. The accountant calls with a current doubt and gets an answer that allows the month to be closed. The entrepreneur consults a planned transaction and learns how to shape it. You use the pool yourself or through your accountant. If your books are kept by our Skarbiec Accountancy team in the premium package, that exchange takes place within the firm, without involving you.
Optimisation or navigation
Lao Tzu wrote that water is the softest of all things and yet overcomes the hard and the strong. Not by force, but by persistence and by flowing where the resistance is least.
Good tax advice works the same way. It does not fight the rules; it leads through them along a path that is lawful and advantageous. This is not aggressive optimisation but navigation; the difference usually becomes visible only during an audit.
Tax retainer services: what’s included and what’s not
Ongoing advice, within the pool of hours
CIT
Your accountant asks whether an expense is deductible before closing the month, and gets the answer within the pool.
PIT
We settle on an ongoing basis how to treat payments to partners and the owner’s income before they reach the tax return.we settle on an ongoing basis how to treat payments to partners and the owner’s income before they reach the tax return.
VAT
For a specific invoice we tell you which rate applies and whether input tax can be deducted, before the accountant books it.
Withholding tax (WHT)
Before a transfer abroad we tell you whether to withhold tax and which documents to collect from the counterparty.
Transfer pricing
We answer whether a transaction with a related party requires documentation and suggest how to set its terms.
Estonian CIT
We answer whether a planned decision of the company would cost it the right to the lump sum regime.
Legal retainer (ongoing legal services)
Contracts and day to day corporate matters from the same pool of hours. Litigation, transactions and legal audits are handled outside the pool, on the terms described on that page.
What we bill outside the monthly pool
Transparency needs boundaries. An opinion, a memorandum, a tax ruling application, an audit and representation are separate engagements: we quote a fixed fee before the work starts and proceed after your acceptance, without a new agreement, under the retainer agreement. Within the pool of hours we answer questions, by phone and by e-mail, assess the situation and recommend the next step.
Stamp duty, court and administrative fees are invoiced separately. The retainer does not replace bookkeeping either: accounting and payroll can be added in the premium package, after an individual quote.
Analyses before a decision
Tax opinions and analyses
When an answer in conversation is not enough, we prepare a written opinion on a specific transaction that you can rely on in dealings with the tax authority, a counterparty or an auditor.
Tax rulings
If an ongoing consultation shows that the tax treatment needs formal protection, we prepare an application for a binding ruling.
Tax audit
We carry it out before a change of accountant, the entry of an investor or an expected tax inspection.
Tax inspections and disputes
Appeals to the administrative courts
We represent the company before the provincial administrative courts and the Supreme Administrative Court.
The full range of the firm’s tax services, including matters handled outside the retainer, is described on the page tax advisory in Poland.
How the tax retainer works
You choose a package, shared between tax and legal matters: for large companies 12 hours a month for PLN 3,600 net, for micro and small businesses 8 hours for PLN 2,400 net, for sole traders 5 hours for PLN 1,500 net. The premium package, with accounting or payroll, is quoted individually. The agreement terms, fees and travel are described on the legal retainer page linked in the section above.
You ask when you need to: by phone, by e-mail or in person, without opening a case and without waiting for a free slot. A tax adviser contacts you within 3 hours of your request, on business days, during the firm’s working hours.
When a transaction needs closer examination, within the pool we assess whether a written opinion or a ruling application is needed. Their preparation is quoted separately, as a fixed fee, before the work starts.
At least once a month your account manager informs you about changes in tax law that affect your company, both enacted and planned.
Hours above the pool are billed at the hourly rates set in the agreement. Unused hours do not carry over to the next month.
FAQ: About Tax Retainer Services
What is a tax retainer?
Ongoing tax support for a company within a monthly pool of hours. A tax adviser answers the current questions of the entrepreneur and the accountant and assesses whether a matter needs further steps.
Are the tax retainer and the legal retainer two separate agreements?
No. It is one retainer and one pool of hours, which you use for tax and legal matters in any proportion.
How much does the tax retainer cost?
The package is shared with legal services: for large companies PLN 3,600 net per month (12 hours), for micro and small businesses PLN 2,400 net (8 hours), for sole traders PLN 1,500 net (5 hours). The premium package is quoted individually.
Can my accountant use the retainer?
Yes. The accountant asks the adviser directly, and the time spent answering is taken from your pool of hours.
Is a written tax opinion included in the retainer?
Not within the pool of hours. Within the pool we answer questions, including by e-mail, and assess whether an opinion is needed. An opinion you can rely on is quoted separately, as a fixed fee, before the work starts, without a new agreement.
Does the retainer cover representation during a tax inspection?
Within the pool of hours we assess the situation and recommend the next step. Representation itself is handled outside the pool, as a separate engagement quoted before the work starts.
Can a foreign owned company in Poland use the retainer?
Yes. Polish subsidiaries of foreign groups and foreign entrepreneurs operating in Poland use the same packages, in English, with their Polish accountant included in the pool.
Contact
In a few sentences, tell us about the challenges you face running your business and where you need support. We’ll let you know whether a one-off consultation would be enough in your case or whether a retainer might be worth considering. If we’re not the right fit for your matter, we’ll tell you straight away.
