SUSPENSION OF THE LIMITATION PERIOD FOR A TAX LIABILITY IN PROCEEDINGS WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE TAXPAYER’S REPRESENTATIVE – RESOLUTION OF THE SUPREME ADMINISTRATIVE COURT OF MARCH 18, 2019, FILE REF. ACT I FPS 3/18

Discrepancies in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Administrative Court and Voivodship Administrative Courts concerning the issue of the effectiveness of suspension of the limitation period for a tax liability in a case in which the taxpayer is represented by an attorney, led to a panel of seven judges of the Supreme Administrative Court adopting a resolution in the case no act I FPS 3/18. This resolution was a foregone conclusion on the role of the representative appointed by the party in the proceedings before the tax authority, stating that the omission of the representative in the proceedings has the same effects as the omission of the party, hence the delivery of the notice to the party about the suspension of the limitation period for the tax liability without taking into account the representative is ineffective. The position of the Supreme Administrative Court leads to the implementation of the principle of active participation of a party in tax proceedings, expressed in the right to appoint a representative in all activities of the proceedings that do not require their personal participation, including, of course, receiving notices sent to a party pursuant to Art. 70c the Tax Ordinance even if the notification is made by the tax authority, before which no proceedings with the participation of the party’s representative are pending. In addition, the legal issue presented for resolution as relating to the issue of the limitation period is extremely important for the actions taken by tax authorities. It also plays an invaluable role for the jurisprudence of administrative courts and, above all, for strengthening the taxpayer’s ability to effectively invoke the statute of limitations on tax liabilities.