On 18 June this year. The Director of the National Fiscal Information issued an individual interpretation
0114-KDIP2-2.4010.107.2021.1.RK regarding the determination of the value of controlled transactions for the maintenance of bank accounts.
In the facts described above, the Applicant is a domestic bank operating under the Banking Law Act.
Within the framework of its activity, the Bank has entered and may enter in the future into transactions
with Related Parties and Entities from tax havens consisting in the provision of financial services regarding the maintenance of bank accounts referred to in Article 49(1)(1) and (3) of the Banking Law:
– settlement accounts, including current accounts, auxiliary accounts and related VAT accounts,
– savings and settlement accounts.
For the rendered service of maintaining Bank Accounts and detailed activities performed in that scope the entity maintaining the Bank Account, including the Bank shall collect remuneration consisting in
– interest (interest on the debit balance of the account) and
– fees and commissions
for the performance of the activities defined in the agreement, regulations and fee and commission table. Interest, fees and commissions received by the service provider (the account operator, including the Bank), as a rule, constitute its tax revenue. On the other hand, by virtue of holding funds in Bank Accounts, the service provider (account operator, including the Bank) may pay remuneration in the form of interest. Interest paid by the service provider (entity maintaining the Bank Account, including the Bank) may constitute a tax deductible cost for the service provider.
In light of the above, it was questioned how to determine the value of a controlled transaction for this type of event.
In the Applicant’s opinion, in order to determine the documentation obligation, the value should be summed up:
– interest,
– fees,
– commissions
received by the bank account operator from the holder of the bank account (income item) and separately – the value of interest paid to the bank account holder (expense item).
At the same time, pursuant to Article 11k(3) of the CIT Act, when analysing the value of a transaction, the income and expense side must be separately verified.
The above position was confirmed by the tax authority.
Author: Beata Rawa – Transfer Pricing Manager
