Poland

Legal and tax aspects of
investing in real estate
important requirements imposed by the
environmental law is the requirement to
obtain permits related to the rules of having
an impact upon the environment. It is
usually examined during the due diligence
whether the seller (or the target company)
fulfills the environmental law requirements.
Permit requirements
Environmental permits can be basically
divided into two groups. The first one
includes permission obtained in the course
of the investment process and the second
group includes permission related to the
use of the property.
In certain circumstances Polish
environmental law imposes an obligation to
obtain an integrated permit, which includes
a number of permits governing the use of
the environment. The obligation to obtain
integrated permit relates to, inter alia, the
following branches of industry: metallurgy
and steel industry, the mineral industry and
the chemical industry.
Besides, it is important to take into account
the permissible level of noise. Permission
is required only if the noise level exceeds
the noise limits, which should be evaluated
taking into account the provisions of the
local plan.
Liability for contaminated land
Under the Polish law there are two regimes
of liability for land (soil) contamination,
depending on the period from which the
contamination originates (with the border
line being 30 April 2007). A current
holder (in particular owner or perpetual
usufructuary), revealed in the Land
Register, is liable for soil contamination
which occurred prior to 30 April 2007 or
may be attributed to activity completed
prior to that date, even if such holder did
not actually cause the contamination.
Parties to the sale agreement cannot
contractually exclude the above mentioned
administrative liability of the purchaser for
clean-up of contaminated land so when a
potential investor intends to buy a property
(especially one that was used for industrial
purposes) a detailed study on pollution of
the land is required.
To secure purchaser’s interest, the seller of
contaminated land may agree to reimburse
the purchaser with expenditures borne for
the clean-up.
The situation is different for “new” land
contamination, i.e. any soil damage, which
occurred after 30 April 2007 or could be
attributed to an activity completed after
that date. An entity using the environment
(i.e. an entity who has relevant permits to
operate and use the environment) is liable
for any such damage.
Environmental impact
assessment
According to the section 2.5.1 where the
environmental decision and environmental
impact assessment where described,
in some cases – especially for large
investments an environmental impact
assessment proceeding may be required.
2.9.2. Financial due diligence
Not many investors perform due
diligence when completing a real estate
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