INTRODUCTION / 9
CHAPTER 1
FINANCIAL LAW AND TAX LAW – GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS / 13
1.1. Public finance and finance law – concept and definitions / 13
1.2. General principles of financial law in the Republic of Poland / 14
1.3. Public vs. private finance / 15
1.4. Functions of public finance / 17
1.5. Financial law and tax law as branches (fi elds) of law / 18
1.6. Sources of financial and tax law / 20
CHAPTER 2
THE FOUNDATIONS OF STATE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT / 24
2.1. The basic principles of financial management of the state / 24
2.2. The principle of accumulation and disbursement of financial resources in the manner prescribed by law / 25
2.3. The principle of acquisition, disposal and encumbrance of real estate, shares or stocks and the issue of securities by the Treasury, the National Bank of Poland or other state legal persons on the terms and in the manner prescribed by statute / 27
2.4. The principle of establishing a monopoly by means of statute / 28
2.5. The principle of contracting loans and granting guarantees and sureties financed by the State under the terms and procedures specified by statute / 30
2.6. The principle of prohibiting loans, guarantees and financial warranties resulting in a government debt exceeding threefifths of the annual GDP / 33
CHAPTER 3
TREASURY / 35
3.1. Definition of Treasury / 35
3.2. The General Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Poland / 36
3.3. Treasury liability / 38
3.4. Treasury companies / 40
3.5. State property management / 42
3.6. Real estate management / 45
CHAPTER 4
STATE BUDGET / 47
4.1. The concept of the budget and the preliminary budget / 47
4.1.1. The concept of the state budget / 47
4.1.2. Budgetary principles / 50
4.1.3. The concept of the preliminary budget / 52
4.2. Budgetary equilibrium / 53
4.3. Legislative initiative with respect to the budget / 55
4.4. The powers of the Sejm and the Senate regarding the Budget Act (Articles 222 and 223) / 59
4.5. The powers of the President of the Republic of Poland regarding the Budget Act / 65
4.6. Shortening the term of the office of the Sejm / 66
4.7. Report on the implementation of the budget law / 70
CHAPTER 5
NATIONAL PUBLIC DEBT / 74
5.1. Debt limit / 74
5.2. Calculation of government debt / 76
5.3. Financing of borrowing needs of the state budget / 79
5.4. Prudential and sanctioning procedures / 80
5.4.1. General issues / 80
5.4.2. Precautionary procedures / 82
5.4.3. Sanitation procedures / 83
5.5. Principles and procedure for the issue of Treasury securities / 84
CHAPTER 6
LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE / 87
6.1. Introduction / 87
6.2. Revenue of local government units / 88
6.2.1. Adequacy principle / 88
6.2.2. Types of revenue of local government units / 91
6.2.3. Law on revenues of local government units / 95
6.2.4. European Charter of Local Self-Government / 99
6.3. Local taxes and charges / 102
CHAPTER 7
TAXATION AND TAX LAW / 105
7.1. Taxes and other public levies – scope constitutional regulations / 105
7.1.1. Introduction / 105
7.1.2. Public levies / 106
7.1.3. Taxation and features of tax regulation in Poland / 106
7.1.4. Fee / 110
7.1.5. Surcharge / 111
7.1.6. Custom duties / 111
7.1.7. Other public contributions / 112
7.1.8. Limits of application of the ‘tax’ constitutional regulation / 113
7.2. Constitutional grounds for taxation / 115
7.3. The concept of universality of taxation as a constitutional principle / 116
7.4. Principle of statutory levying of taxes / 119
7.5. Sources of tax law other than the Act / 122
7.6. Interpretation acts and the principle of statutory taxation / 124
7.7. Tax legislation / 127
CHAPTER 8
NATIONAL BANK OF POLAND / 129
8.1. Introductory remarks / 129
8.2. Status and scope of constitutional tasks of the National Bank of Poland / 130
8.3. Principle of independence of the National Bank of Poland / 137
8.4. Internal bodies of the National Bank of Poland / 138
8.5. Interaction of the NBP with other state authorities / 144
CHAPTER 9
THE RIGHT TO SOCIAL SECURITY / 146
9.1. Social security – concept and definitions / 146
9.2. Article 67 of the Polish Constitution – theory and jurisprudence / 148
9.3. The right to social security in the constitutions of selected European countries / 158
BIBIOGRAPHY (BASIC LITERATURE) /161
