In its judgment of August 25, 2009, the Voivodship Administrative Court in Wrocław finally acknowledged, in conformance to the judgment of the European Court of Justice, that Polish tax residents have the right to deduct foreign insurance premiums.

Although the provision which made it impossible to deduct foreign premiums has been amended, the case in question referred to the legal status prior to December 1, 2008. The case related to a German citizen, Uwe Rüffler, who had been residing in Poland since 2005. The Voivodship Administrative Court decided that the complainant had the right to deduct health insurance premiums paid to the German insurance scheme from the tax payable in Poland.

The Polish court decided as described above after the European Court of Justice had replied to its question with the ECJ judgment of April 23, 2009 (court file no. C-544/07). In the judgment, the ECJ decided that Polish provisions restricting the right to deduct foreign insurance premiums were contradictory to the European Union law.
Contact person: Mirosław Stefanik ms@pnplaw.pl