The Legal Fiction of Recognizing the Duties of an Academic Teacher as a Creative Activity

Polish tax law contains favourable regulations on the income obtained from the use of copyrights. An employee, for example, an academic teacher, can also take advantage of these preferential conditions if s/he performs creative activities as part of her/his professional duties.

The preferential settlement of the payroll tax on the employment of an academic teacher raises doubts from the point of view of tax authorities. What is problematic is how to determine the scale of creative work and the amount of remuneration strictly for this type of work. In the new Law on Higher Education and Science, the legislator intends to resolve these doubts by assuming that performing teaching duties is a creative activity. Consequently, all remuneration is due for the work of the creator and is taxed more favourably.

In this text, the author makes a critical analysis of the legal fiction contained in Article 116 section 7 of the Law on Higher Education and Science. The author assesses the effectiveness of legal regulations in achieving the purpose of the Law – resolving doubts concerning preferential taxation of remuneration for the work of an academic teacher.