Service of letters by tax authorities - it is worth knowing

One of the fundamental rules of tax proceedings is settling all matters in writing. Service of letters by tax authorities is most often done personally. But what if the recipient is not at home? Can the letter be delivered by other means? We will try to answer these and other questions later in this article.

Ways of delivering letters by tax authorities

The most popular form of delivering letters by tax authorities is Poczta Polska. This does not mean, however, that the tax office has no other choice. The tax authority does not have to decide to cooperate with a public company. Nothing prevents the letter from being delivered, for example, by a courier (of course after receiving the appropriate delivery order). Often, the tax authority also delegates one of its employees to deliver the letter. If the letter is delivered from the commune - and the tax authority is the head of the commune - even the head of the village may knock on our door.

Service of letters by tax authorities via the Internet

Pursuant to Art. 144a of the Tax Ordinance, in some cases, the tax office has the right to deliver the letter via electronic communication, i.e. to the taxpayer's e-mail address. The condition for using this form is:

• prior application of the taxpayer with an appropriate application, in which he will provide the e-mail address,
• the taxpayer's consent to the delivery of correspondence in this way - if the initiator is the tax office.

Important! This solution does not apply to certificates - they must be delivered by traditional means.

Place of delivery of letters by tax authorities

As a rule, the place of service of the letter by tax authorities to natural persons is the place of residence or work of the taxpayer. In justified cases, the letters may also be left for collection at the tax office.

If it is not possible to deliver the letter in any of the above-mentioned places, the letters are delivered to any place where the addressee is found.

Receipt of correspondence by third parties

When the taxpayer is absent from the apartment at the time of the delivery attempt, the letter may be handed over to an adult household member, neighbor or even the caretaker of the apartment. Of course, on the condition that these persons undertake to forward the letter to the addressee and sign the acknowledgment of receipt, stating the current date. In a situation where the recipient of the letter for some reasons is not possible or refuses to confirm the delivery of the letter by the tax authorities, the delivering person shall indicate the person who received the letter and give the reason for the lack of signature along with the date of receipt.

If the letter is passed on to a third party, an appropriate notice is placed - in the mailbox, on the door of the apartment or in another visible place - informing the taxpayer of this fact.

Service of letters by tax authorities - recognition of the letter as delivered

As you can see, the tax office has a wide choice of how to deliver the letter to the addressee. This does not mean, however, that the tax authority may use two different methods of delivering the letters at once (e.g. sending by courier and an additional order to deliver the letter to the employee) and automatically recognize the letter as delivered.

Service of letters by tax authorities should always be confirmed by a receipt. This means that the person who receives the letter is required to sign a handwritten signature confirming the delivery of the letter. If the receipt is missing - as a rule - the tax authority has no evidence that the letter was actually delivered.

In the case of electronic delivery of the letter by the tax authorities, the taxpayer has 7 days to send the tax office a confirmation of receipt. The tax authority sends to the taxpayer's e-mail address information indicating the e-mail address from which the addressee may receive the letter and at which he should confirm its delivery. If the tax authority does not receive the relevant confirmation within the prescribed period, the letter is sent again - this time by traditional means.

Service of letters by tax authorities - obligations of the addressee

During the tax proceedings, the taxpayer is required to notify the tax authority of a change of address or e-mail address (in the case of electronic delivery of letters).

If the taxpayer goes abroad for a period of at least 2 months, he is obliged to appoint a service representative.

In the event of neglecting these obligations, the letter shall be deemed delivered to the current address.

Service of letters by tax authorities - additional solutions

Sometimes it happens that all possible ways of delivering the letter by the tax authorities fail. In this case, the letter may be left for a period of 14 days:

• at a post office (in the case of delivering letters with the services of Poczta Polska),
• at the commune / city office (in the case of delivering letters by employees of the tax authority or by other authorized persons).

The taxpayer is informed about the fact of leaving the letter at the facility twice:

• right after unsuccessful delivery,
• after 7 days from the first delivery attempt.

A way of informing the taxpayer can be e.g. a notice left in a mailbox or in another visible place.

Important! If the letter is left for collection for a period of 14 days, service is deemed to have been formally completed on the last day of this period.