changes in law - legal aspects of new technologies

The Polish government is currently working on a completely new tax regime applicable to income from trading in cryptocurrencies (virtual currencies) for personal income tax and corporate income tax purposes. For PIT purposes, this income is to be taxed as income from cash capital at the rate of 19% regardless of whether the turnover is of a private nature or made in the course of business activity. For CIT purposes, the income from trading in cryptocurrencies will be classified as capital gains. These new rules would apply from 1 January 2019.

A proposal presented in May by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology for amendments to the Commercial Companies Code provides for a new type of capital company – Prosta Spółka Akcyjna (PSA). This legislative proposal has been criticised for an excessive amount of regulation and complexity of the provisions, and also has been welcomed for achieving the principal goal of the initiative, which is making the legal environment suitable for start-ups. This article discusses the section of the amendment that deals directly with new technologies.

The high costs of preparing a prospectus and the required intermediation of an investment firm have discouraged many companies from raising financing through a public offering. Given the low threshold (EUR 100,000) for the value of a public offering requiring publication of a prospectus, the obligations connected with public offerings have also had a negative impact on other methods of financing such as crowdfunding. The new regulations are aimed at relaxing the national requirements by raising the threshold to EUR 1 million and adjusting other regulations to this change.

The green light may have been given, but it is not glowing very brightly. Amendments to the Polish Road Traffic Law suggest a real possibility of self-driving cars becoming widely used in Poland. The new rules will allow roads to be used for testing autonomous vehicles. The act is also the first act in the Polish legal system to define an autonomous vehicle, which is a vehicle fitted with systems that control the vehicle’s movement and enable it to move without driver interaction, which a driver can take control over at any time (Art. 65k).

Reports released by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance leave no doubt that Europe has fallen a long way behind the United States and Asian countries in development of modern financial services. This is especially noticeable in crowdfunding. In Asia Pacific countries, this method generates more than USD 200 billion per year, but only some USD 8 billion in Europe. The proposed crowdfunding regulation is intended to change this by harmonising European laws and introducing a European passport for service providers operating crowdfunding platforms.

At a meeting summarising public consultations on a bill implementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Poland, the Ministry of Digital Affairs confirmed that during legislative work a change was approved providing for major exceptions to the GDPR. This change was proposed in October 2017 by the Ministry of Development. This proposed exception is an interesting example of how hard it can be to draft legislation properly aligned to the needs of a digital economy.