New Income Tax Reliefs for Donations Made by Taxpayers for Purposes Related to Combating the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In an effort to limit the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic determined by restrictions in economic activity and various areas of social activity, the catalogue of preventive actions was expanded by tax and legal instruments in the form of income tax reliefs inclining taxpayers to certain behaviours. The reliefs entitle taxpayers to deduct the value of donations made for the purposes of counteracting COVID-19 from the tax base. Two types of such donations have been distinguished, i.e., donations for entities participating in the treatment of infected persons and donations for educational institutions providing remote education. The aim of this article is to establish the premises justifying the claim that the tax reliefs for donations made by income tax payers are autonomous in relation to other tax preferences available to taxpayers making donations for other socially useful purposes. The hypothesis about the ad hoc and temporary nature of these tax reliefs has been verified as true, and the dominance of the motivating and stimulating function over their fiscal function has been demonstrated. Symmetrical solutions have been identified in the legal structure of the subject tax reliefs, as the donor uses a deduction from the tax base, while the recipient does not include the accepted donation in their income. The study uses the legal-dogmatic method and, in addition, the empirical analytical method to present the jurisprudence of courts in the field of applying tax reliefs due to donations made by income tax payers.