BIG WILL GAIN ACCESS TO THE LIST OF TAX DEBTORS

Economic Information Office (BIG) - definition

Economic Information Bureaus are institutions that collect data on unreliable debtors under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy. There are four such institutions in Poland:

BIG InfoMonitor,

National Debt Register BIG,

ERIF BIG Debtors Register,

National Economic Information Bureau (KBIG).

Each of these offices keeps separate debtors' records.Information to BIG may be provided by entities that have an agreement concluded with the office. In order to carefully check a potential contractor, it is worth asking each office. The entrepreneur can check information about the contractor or about himself in BIG. In the case of a consumer, disclosure of data is possible only with the written authorization of the person to be checked in the register. The authorization is valid for no more than 30 days, and the requesting person must conclude an agreement with the office. What's more, BIG-i keep records of inquiries. Anyone can ask the office when, to whom and what information has been released about him in the last 12 months. The entity that received the data from the Economic Information Bureau must delete it within 90 days of receiving it. Since 2010, BIGs have been operating on the basis of the Act of April 9, 2010 on the provision of economic information and data exchange.

The Ministry of Finance prepared a draft amendment to the Act on enforcement proceedings in administration. The main assumption of the changes is the creation of a register of public debtors. The register will include debtors with tax, customs and arrears resulting from the Fiscal Penal Code. The project is designed to motivate unreliable debtors to pay off their debts and to improve the security of business transactions. The assumption is that each taxpayer will be able to check the contractor for tax arrears free of charge. First, debtors will be disclosed in the field of tax and customs duties and those resulting from the Fiscal Penal Code collected by tax offices and Customs Service bodies. The register will not include debtors with deferred repayment, repayment divided into installments or those with delayed repayment. Only those debtors who do not perform their obligations under the final decision will be disclosed.

- There is no fear that this tool will serve, for example, to satisfy the curiosity of the neighbors - convinces Jacek Kapica, deputy finance minister. The registry is to be a free tool, available to everyone, and safe at the same time.

Access to data will only take place through an account on the Tax Portal. The register will not show specific sums, but amount ranges. Address details will not be disclosed. To check a given person, we will have to obtain a PESEL number from them. Each query will be recorded and everyone will be able to get information who asked for it - added Kapica.

Cooperation with BIG

BIGs will have automatic access to the list of tax debtors. The black list will include debtors whose annual debt to one creditor exceeds PLN 500 and will not be repaid within 30 days of the request for payment. The request will contain information about the possibility of entering into the register. Jacek Kapica explains the decision to cooperate with BIGs as follows: - We examined the effectiveness of Economic Information Bureaus and it turned out that it is at the level of 30 percent. Entering into BIG means that the debtor pays off his obligations, because he wants, for example, to buy a telephone subscription, a car or a TV set in installments. We hope that the efficiency of debt repayment to the Treasury will also increase, e.g. for drivers who do not pay fines - adds Kapica. Information on possible tax arrears of the contractor may reduce the financial risk.