The commencement of parliamentary work on the abolition of PIT for persons under the age of 26, the new Tax Ordinance and the establishment of an Ombudsman for Taxpayers, as well as increased assistance for veterans of foreign missions, especially those most severely injured - these were some of the topics discussed on Wednesday during the first day of the 83rd session of the Sejm. The House also continued the debate on the so-called franking act, investments in the construction of the Museum of Westerplatte and the War of 1939 - a branch of the World War II Museum in Gdansk and support for the development of telecommunications services and networks. In addition, MPs adopted the report on the activities of the National Broadcasting Council and the National Media Council for 2018. The oath of office was taken by MP Alicja Dabrowska.

Continuation of parliamentary work. II Readings

The Sejm debated the report of the Public Finance Committee on the presidential draft amendment to the Act on Support for Borrowers in Difficulty, presented by Tadeusz Cymański. The draft concerns the change of the mechanism of providing financial support for persons who as a result of objective circumstances find themselves in a difficult financial situation and at the same time are obliged to repay housing loan instalments constituting a significant burden on their household budgets. Members will continue to work on the project in KFP.

Due to the amendments, the draft specustaw on Westerplatte was sent to the Infrastructure Committee again. The project brought by the MPs assumes streamlining the preparation and implementation of investments in the construction of the Museum of Westerplatte and the War of 1939 - Branch of the World War II Museum in Gdańsk. According to the applicants, the protection and proper development of the Battlefield at Westerplatte is aimed at preserving the unique historical, spatial, material and non-material values symbolizing the heroism and sacrifice made by the Polish soldier. Therefore the revitalization and revalorization of Westerplatte can only proceed on the basis of respect for the context of the place and a thorough analysis of history in relation to the specific relics of the Military Transit Storage and the spatial changes that have taken place on the Westerplatte peninsula from the time of its establishment to the present. The present condition of the Westerplatte Peninsula does not provide visitors from Poland and the world with an idea of the purpose, functioning and significance of the defense of the Military Transit Depot for Polish history and for Poles during and after the war. Deputy Minister of Culture Jarosław Sellin also took part in the parliamentary discussion.

The draft amendment to the Act on supporting the development of telecommunications services and networks aims to Ensuring uninterrupted access to telecommunications for the entire societyThis is to be achieved, among other things, by lowering the costs of telecommunications investments. These facilitations will also apply to the planned investments in 5G technology, which will require the construction of many new base stations. The bill was again submitted to the Committee on Digitization, Innovation and New Technologies.

The Diet continued to work on the creation of a system of development institutions called Polish Development Fund GroupThe draft was referred back to the Committee on Economy and Development and the Committee on Public Finance. The draft was referred again to the Economy and Development and Public Finance committees.

Simplify and streamline administrative enforcement proceedings and ensure increased enforcement efficiency - These are the main goals of the draft amendment to the enforcement procedure in administration and some other acts, which was considered by the House in the second reading. The report on the first reading, which was conducted by the Committee on Public Finance and Justice and Human Rights, was presented by MEP Andrzej Szlachta. By decision of the MPs, the 3rd reading will be held in the voting block.

The government draft amendment to the Act on the monitoring system of road and rail transport of goods and certain other acts is to introduce solutions enabling the use of IT tools to de-bureaucratize the heating oil trade. The report was presented by Andrzej Kosztowniak. The bill was sent for the third reading, which will be carried out in a block vote.

The Economy and Development Committee will once again continue its work on the government's draft amendments to the Act on Competition and Consumer Protection and certain other acts. The draft amendment will enable the President of OCCP to shape the internal structure of OCCP more flexibly - in particular with respect to OCCP's delegations, improving the effectiveness of detection of violations of the Act on Competition and Consumer Protection through access to legally protected secrets, such as treasury secrecy and bank secrecy.

The Public Finance Committee will again consider a bill strengthening public oversight over the activities of auditors and audit firms in Poland.

Anna Paluch MEP was the rapporteur in the debate on the draft amendment to the Act on the Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme. The draft concerns adding definitions and making the provisions more specific so that their interpretation does not raise doubts, adjusting the deadlines provided for in the aforementioned Act to the current reality, increasing the support of the minister competent for environmental matters by supervised entities, adjusting the information obligations and the flow of information between the operators of the installation and the authorities, as well as between the authorities themselves. The draft was referred again to the Committee on Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry.

The government bill amending the Law on Goods and Services Tax and certain other laws concerning, according to the justification - among other things, changes in the VAT Law aimed at tightening the VAT system and changes in the Tax Ordinance related to the inclusion of the President of the Energy Regulatory Office in the list of entities to which information covered by the tax secrecy may be made available was referred to the third reading, which will take place in the voting block

As a result of the discussion on the government's draft concerns the introduction of solutions that would mobilize debtors of commercial transactions (entrepreneurs and public entities) to make payments within the agreed term and discourage them from imposing unjustified, prolonged payment periods, the draft was referred again to the KFP and GOR committees.

The Sejm's joint committees on Environment, Natural Resources and Forestry and on Local Self-Government and Regional Policy will once again take up work on a draft amendment to the Act on Maintaining Cleanliness and Order in Communes and Certain Other Acts, which increases communal control over municipal waste management and selective collection of municipal waste.

I Readings

Raise the injured veterans allowance, comprehensive medical care for veterans with at least 30 percent impairment, public transportation concessions, and additional annual leave These are the changes that the government wants to introduce in the act on veterans of operations outside the country's borders. Increased assistance for veterans and injured veterans will also be implemented by granting the right to participate in rehabilitation and reconditioning camps, wider access to treatment and prevention camps. The veterans will also have priority in placement in the Military Retirement Home and the Veteran's Home with a reduction in the payment of the injured veteran for stay in the Veteran's Home. The project was justified by the Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak. MPs decided that the National Defense Commission will deal with the procedure.

After the debate, MPs referred the zero PIT bill for further work in the Public Finance Committee. The justification to the draft was presented by Deputy Finance Minister Leszek Skiba, and Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister, spoke earlier. Zero PIT is to apply to income from employment (business relationship, employment relationship, contract of employment and co-operative employment relationship) and from contracts of mandate concluded with a company, earned by persons under 26 years of age - to an amount not exceeding PLN 85 thousand 528 in the tax year - this corresponds to the upper limit of the first bracket of the tax scale. Thanks to the new regulations Individuals under the age of 26 will receive higher wages.

The government bills on Tax Ordinance and its implementing regulations as well as a bill appointing the Taxpayer Ombudsman were examined together. The functioning of the Ombudsman is to contribute to changing and shaping new standards of functioning of the tax administration. The bill also includes The Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which provides a friendly and accessible guide to tax law for everyone. In turn, the draft of the new Tax Ordinance provides for greater protection of taxpayers' rights in their dealings with the tax administration and increased efficiency and effectiveness of tax collection. It is also postulated to organize the mechanisms protecting the position of the taxpayer in his relations with the tax authorities. These include general principles of tax law, forms of settling tax cases by consensus (tax agreements, mediation, consultations on the tax consequences of transactions), provisions protecting the taxpayer in the event of compliance with tax authorities' information, the ban on ruling to the taxpayer's disadvantage when reconsidering a case in appeal proceedings, the right to correct a declaration before the end of tax proceedings, the possibility of renouncing an appeal against a decision in favor of a complaint to court, or longer time limits for filing an appeal and complaint. The justification was presented by Deputy Minister Leszek Skiba. The Public Finance Committee will continue working on the bill.

The draft amendment to the VAT Act, prepared by the Ministry of Finance, which provides for the introduction of a new matrix of VAT rates to simplify their application, assuming changes of rates for certain products, has also been submitted to the Committee of Public Finance.

The MPs also started the procedure of the government draft amendments to the Code of Commercial Companies, which provides for compulsory dematerialization of bearer shares and registered shares of joint-stock companies and limited joint-stock partnerships, which are not subject to compulsory dematerialization, within the meaning of the Act on Public Offering and the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments. Work on the amendments will be continued by the extraordinary committee for changes in codifications. The justification was presented by the Deputy Minister of Justice, Łukasz Piebiak.

The efficiency and effectiveness of tax collection will be enhanced by provisions relating to, among others: the introduction of an effective model of tax procedure, new simplified procedure, introduction of the principle of amicable settlement of cases, popularization of the use of electronic communication or ordering the principles of application and mitigation of penalties.

On Thursday, July 4, the Members of the Sejm concluded the 83rd session of its session. On that day, the House worked on support for franking and credit borrowers, zero PIT for persons under 26 years of age, prevention of payment blockages and a special law to facilitate the construction of the Museum of Westerplatte and the War of 1939. The next session of the Sejm - the 84th - is scheduled for July 17-19. The preceding week (July 8-12) will be devoted to meetings of parliamentary groups and committees, including the VAT Investigation Committee.

Third readings - Laws adopted by the Sejm

In a block of votes Thursday evening, members of the House passed bills on:
- The Act on Support for Borrowers in Difficult Financial Situation Who Have Taken a Housing Loan (Presidential draft). It assumes, among other things, that the rules for providing assistance from the so-called Support Fund to credit holders who are in difficulty will be made more flexible. The assistance will be larger and will be provided for longer than it was in the original 2015 law;
- extending the period of awarding the Medal of the Centenary of Regained Independence until 2022 and extending the timeframe of the National Committee for the Celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Polish Independence. It was a presidential project;
- enforcement proceedings in administration. The new law simplifies and streamlines related procedures. This is the implementation of the 2016 Constitutional Court ruling on the maximum amount of fees for administrative enforcement;
- system of development institutions. The act concerns six state institutions, referred to as development institutions, which will cooperate within the framework of the Polish Development Fund Group created by the act;
- monitoring system for road and rail transport of goods. Regulations will tighten the heating oil trading system. There will also be a de-bureaucratization of the marketing of this fuel;
- greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme. The law implements EU provisions of the NEC Directive on reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and fine dust;
- Investment in the construction of the Museum of Westerplatte and the War of 1939 - Branch of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk; 
- support the development of telecommunications services and networks. The Act assumes implementation of 5G network, it is to facilitate, among others, construction of telecommunication infrastructure in national parks, nature reserves or health resorts;
- Competition and consumer protection. The new rules will combat discrimination against customers in the EU market on the basis of nationality;
- auditors and audit firms and public oversight. The bill strengthens public oversight over the activities of auditors and audit firms. It provides for the establishment of the Polish Audit Supervision Agency, which will replace the Audit Supervision Commission;
- goods and services tax. The new solutions include replacement of VAT returns with JPK files, as well as sealing VAT e.g. in e-commerce and elimination of irregularities in excise tax related to trade in lubricants;
- In order to reduce payment congestion, the adopted regulations include: shortening payment deadlines; empowering the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection to prosecute large companies generating the biggest congestion; obliging the largest companies to report their payment practices to the MPiT; relief for bad debts in PIT and CIT;
- maintenance of cleanliness and order in communes. The law provides for higher fees (from two to four times more) for people who do not segregate waste;
- Personal Income Tax, the Family Benefits Act, and the Publicly Funded Health Care Benefits Act. The law provides for zero PIT for persons up to 26 years of age. Income of such taxpayers up to the amount of PLN 85,500 will be exempt from PIT. The regulation is to be effective from 1 August 2019.
- the maritime safety. The regulations provide for, among other things, more efficient transmission of information to rescue services on the number of passengers on board in case of an accident, they are also to ensure uniform principles of inspections carried out on passenger ships;
- Prison Service Modernization Program 2017-2020;
- the professions of nurse and midwife. The education at the faculties of nursing and midwifery at the first degree studies will be able to be conducted in a part-time form;
- Energy Law. The amendment addresses the rules for determining the operator on the Yamal pipeline. If the pipeline owner and operator fail to agree on a new contract, the ERO President will issue a decision that will replace the contract;
- waste. MEPs voted in favor of most of the Senate's legislative and clarifying amendments to the Waste Act amendment, which stipulates that from January 1, 2020, waste records will be kept only electronically;
- of the Code of Civil Procedure. The MPs adopted 16 amendments by the Senate to the amendment of the Civil Procedure Code, including the amendment which provides for deleting the additional fee paid by advocates for improper payment of the appeal. The amendment will be sent to the President together with the amendments.

Other decisions of the Chamber

By acclamation, deputies adopted a resolution commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles, which falls this year. "It stated the fact of the independence of the Polish state, outlined the western borders of the Second Republic and recognized Poland's access to the sea," the document says. The deputies paid tribute to the Polish delegates to the Paris Peace Conference: Prime Minister Ignacy Paderewski and Roman Dmowski. "Their signatures on June 28, 1919, under the Versailles document sealed the return of the Republic to the maps and crowned many years of work to rebuild the state," the resolution stressed.
The MPs also adopted a resolution on amending the Rules of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland - the Speaker of the Sejm will be able to overrule his decision to exclude an MP from a session of the House until the MP lodges an appeal.
Jan Dziedziczak (Law and Justice party) became the Chair and Anita Czerwińska (Law and Justice party), Lech Kołakowski (Law and Justice party), Piotr Apel (Kukiz'15), Agnieszka Pomaska (PO-KO), Cezary Tomczyk (PO-KO) became Vice-Chairs of the Committee on European Union Affairs.
MPs rejected the report of the President of the Supreme Audit Office on the activities of the Chamber in 2018.
The Sejm adopted the report of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration on the acquisition of real estate in Poland by foreigners.
Wiktor Klimiuk, a councillor from the capital city of Warsaw, was chosen by the Seym to be a new member of the verification commission for the reprivatization of Warsaw properties.