T-Mobile intimidates ZPP? The operator explains his actions

The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers believes that T-Mobile intimidates him and demands a high level of compensation for the comments appearing on the Internet. What is this about? The operator issued a statement.

ZPP is looking at the issue of CIT paid by T-Mobile and reports on intimidation

According to ZPP, T-Mobile avoids paying CIT. As we read in the report Book of Shame of the Ministry of Finance – tax discrimination against Polish companies, the operator in 2016-2020 achieved PLN 43.3 billion in revenue. He paid CIT in the amount of … PLN 30,801. ZPP adds that T-Mobile recorded a profit of over PLN 2.5 billion during this time, and the CIT tax is paid annually as much as an entrepreneur with an income of about PLN 200,000. zloty.

In the aforementioned report, ZPP points out that for avoiding paying CIT small and medium-sized enterprises pay. In 2018, 41% of CIT taxpayers had to pay tax. In the case of PIT payers, it was 83%.

Tomorrow, January 26, ZPP is organizing a press conference. In its announcement we read that T-Mobile Polska demands PLN 1 million in compensation from ZPP for providing official information from the Ministry of Finance regarding the payment of CIT in Poland by T-Mobile.

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T-Mobile issues a statement and refutes the allegations

Here is the content of the statement issued by T-Mobile today:

Due to the information appearing in the public space, we confirm that on January 18 we sent to the address of the Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers a request to stop publishing the material in an incomplete and unreliable manner describing the fulfillment of tax obligations by T-Mobile Polska.

Please be advised that in 2021 T ‑ Mobile Polska SA transferred over PLN 137 million in the form of CIT to the Polish budget. We treat paying taxes as part of the company’s social and economic responsibility, complying with all obligations arising from the law in force in Poland.

In 2016, T-Mobile paid fees for the purchase of frequencies to the state budget in the amount of over PLN 4 billion. This amount, which is a cost for the company, in accordance with the tax law in force in Poland, caused a loss, which the company was legally entitled to settle by reducing the tax base – in a maximum of 5 subsequent years. T-Mobile has already completed settling this loss. The correctness of such a tax settlement was one of the elements of a comprehensive inspection carried out in the company by the tax authorities, which confirmed the proper settlement of CIT by the company.

We have provided this information many times over the last few months and the issue of settling the loss by our company has been widely described by the media. We believe that describing it by ZPP in an incomplete manner, in isolation from the context of T-Mobile’s multi-billion investments in frequency resources and telecommunications infrastructure, also in the form of levies for the state budget, may mislead recipients and undermine their trust in our the company and the entire business.

For full transparency, we enclose a letter that we sent to the ZPP, in which we call on the Union to stop the violations and transfer the amount of compensation to a charity, to the Warsaw Hospice for Children Foundation.

We read in the submitted statement that T-Mobile is demanding:

• Cessation of activities violating the company’s interest by removing the report or removing information about T-Mobile from it.
• Publication of an apology statement.
• Donations of one million zlotys to the Warsaw Hospice for Children Foundation.

Who’s right? Paradoxically … both sides?

Both sides are easy to understand. The ZPP’s indignation on CIT is right, which at first glance does not always look fair when we compare the amounts paid in with the turnover. However, blaming T-Mobile for such and not another construction of tax law and putting the company as an example of wrongdoing is inappropriate.

The law allows you to settle the investment in one way and no other way. Therefore, the defense operation of T-Mobile is fully understandable. The company cannot be blamed for acting in accordance with the law. Only demanding compensation in the amount of one million zlotys may not be a good PR move.