Niedużak was responsible for preparing a law on counteracting payment blockages and amending the Commercial Companies Code. He coordinated at the Ministry the work on - related to the COVID-19 pandemic - laws referred to as the so-called first and fourth instalments of the government's Anti-Crisis Shield.

I would like to thank the Minister very much for his years of work in the Ministry of Development and Technology for the benefit of Polish entrepreneurs. The legal solutions prepared under Minister Niedużak's guidance have contributed to facilitating business and simplifying many procedures, especially concerning the activities of small and medium-sized companies,

- said Minister of Economic Development and Technology Piotr Nowak.

Deputy Minister Niedużak had planned to end his post several months ago, but his work on the implementation of the tasks entrusted to him resulted in his departure from the ministry being postponed until the end of 2021. 

Here is a list of key legal solutions for which Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Technology Marek Niedużak was responsible.

SME package

He has introduced a number of simplifications in taxes, administrative duties and the rules of organisation of commercial companies, thanks to which nearly PLN 4 billion will remain in the pockets of entrepreneurs for 10 years.

From 1 January 2020, the status of a "small taxpayer" in PIT and CIT has been extended to companies with annual sales of up to EUR 2 million (previously it was EUR 1.2 million), thanks to which they gained the right to simplify depreciation and less frequent obligation to pay advance payments for income taxes.

The package introduced the possibility of deducting the value of the work of a spouse and a minor child.

Reduced from 150 to 90 days the period entitling a creditor who has not received a debt to use the bad debt relief in VAT.

Abolished the obligation to carry out periodic occupational health and safety training in industries that are the least accident-prone for about 5 million employees.

Has deregulated certain information obligations for entrepreneurs, e.g. regarding the period of suspension of business activity or keeping a revenue and expense ledger for the purpose of accounting for income tax.

The Friendly Law Package

The Friendly Law Package includes changes to over 60 acts and dozens of point facilitations for business. The package eliminated instances of inconsistency or excessive restrictiveness of the Polish law. It applies to various industries, from postal, telecommunications, aviation, energy, hotel, to payment services.

The Friendly Law Package has introduced:

• "right to make a mistake" (waiver by the authority from imposing a fine or a mandate on novice entrepreneurs in case of minor violations of the law);
• consumer protection for entrepreneurs (extension of certain elements of consumer rights also to entrepreneurs entered in CEIDG);
•  more favourable conditions for accounting for VAT on imports;
• improvements for craftsmen (craftsmen can also be companies and not, as before, only natural persons; moreover, information on the qualifications of the craftsman is available in CEIDG, the fees for the professional examination have also been reduced);
• reduction of administrative obligations (e.g. digitisation of certain reporting obligations for fuel suppliers).

Small ZUS/ Small ZUS Plus

From January 2019, the so-called "Small ZUS" was in force, i.e. a solution making the amount of social insurance contributions for the smallest entrepreneurs dependent on the amount of income achieved the year before. From 1 February 2020, this relief was extended (the so-called "Small ZUS Plus").

For example, an entrepreneur whose average monthly income in 2020 amounted to PLN 3,000, in 2021 paid about PLN 474 per month for social insurance, thus saving about PLN 524 compared to the so-called full ZUS.

Small ZUS Plus is very popular - currently it is used by approximately 325 thousand entitled persons.

Simple Joint Stock Company

Companies of this type can be established from 1 July 2021. Prosta Spółka Akcyjna (PSA) combines features of a limited liability company with advantages of a joint-stock company.

An entrepreneur with a business idea can set up a PSA in 24 hours, online or traditionally. He is not restricted by a "frozen" share capital. He is free from the liabilities that come with public company status. PSA shares are not listed on the stock exchange. The entrepreneur can use a simplified e-record of shareholders, which will be maintained, for example, by an investment company or a notary.

In a PSA, the management board may be one person, and there is no need to create a supervisory board. Shareholders can be communicated with by less formal means, electronically when passing resolutions or at meetings.

As of 6 December 2021, more than 330 simple joint stock companies are already registered with the National Court Register.

New Public Procurement Law

These are more transparent and simplified procedures for awarding public contracts, effective from 1 January 2020. We have strengthened the position and protection of the interests of contractors and subcontractors, including protecting them against liquidity problems. The change of regulations is to translate into concrete benefits:

• more small and medium enterprises will participate in tenders;
• the quality of goods and services ordered by the administration will improve;
• the Polish economy will be more innovative.

State purchasing policy

The purchasing policy introduces a number of recommendations for participants in the procurement market:

• dividing a contract into parts or allowing partial bids;
• make proportionate demands on contractors, including proportionate financial demands;
• providing time to prepare for participation in the procedure;
• extending the time limit for submitting a tender;
• granting advance payments and partial payments also in contracts concluded for a period of less than 12 months;
• a mechanism for certification of contractors.

The Act on counteracting payment blockages

The Act entered into force on 1 January 2020. It reduced the payment period to 30 days in transactions where the debtor is a public entity. Introduced a maximum 60-day payment term in transactions where the creditor is an SME and the debtor is a large entrepreneur

Established the possibility for the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) to impose administrative fines on businesses that are particularly flagrantly and deliberately late in paying their business partners.

It introduced the so-called relief for bad debts in PIT and CIT (i.e. the possibility of reducing the tax base by the creditor and the obligation of the debtor to increase the tax base).

Help for entrepreneurs from the anti-crisis shield

Deputy Minister Marek Niedużak coordinated legislative work on the preparation of the first and fourth anti-crisis shields. These were packages of statutory changes introducing the legal basis for numerous support instruments offered by the Polish government to entrepreneurs as part of the fight against the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CV of Marek Niedużak

Marek Niedużak is 40 years old and comes from Opole. He studied law at Jagiellonian University and Cambridge University. He holds a PhD in law and is an advocate specialising in civil and commercial law.

From 17 August 2021, he served as Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology.

From 19 October 2020, he served as Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology. Before that - he was Deputy Minister of Economic Development from December 2019.

In the previous term of the Sejm - from February 2019 he was Deputy Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology.

Before that, from 2016, he was Deputy Director of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Economic Development, then, from 2017, Director of the Regulatory Risk Assessment Department of the Ministry of Development, and from 2018, Director of the Economic Regulation Improvement Department of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology.

Marek Niedużak has many years of experience working with leading law firms. As an advocate with an individual practice, he cooperated, among others, with the Office for Sejm Analyses. He lectured at the Leon Koźmiński Academy of Law and conducted classes on business law. He is a member of the supervisory board of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. He is a member of the Polish Association of the Economic Analysis of Law and Oxford and Cambridge Society of Poland. He sits on the board of the Abraham Jakub Stern Foundation. He is a fellow of the Polish Economic Institute.

M. Niedużak did his maturity exam at Downside School in the UK. In 2006, he graduated in law from the Jagiellonian University. He obtained his PhD at the same university (2013). He obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Cambridge University in 2012. He served his legal training at the Warsaw Bar Association.