MDR procedures will need to be updated from 1 October 2026

Following the changes, the main focus of MDR analyses will shift to cross-border arrangements, including structures and transactions implemented within international groups. The amendments will be particularly relevant to financial market entities, holding companies, corporate groups and entities carrying out significant legal-form changes, restructurings, or similar transactions, as these entities have traditionally been, and will continue to be, among those most exposed to MDR reporting obligations.

MDR amendment – key issues for taxpayers

1. End of domestic arrangement reporting – once the amendment enters into force, only cross-border arrangements will be reportable. This does not, however, automatically terminate all MDR obligations relating to events occurring before the effective date of the amendments. The transitional provisions and any ongoing reporting processes will need to be reviewed, particularly with regard to the reporting of cross-border arrangements, standardised arrangements, and information obligations towards other participants in an arrangement.
2. Alignment of the MDR scope with the EU model, primarily in relation to direct taxes – the scope of the regulations will be limited mainly to income taxes, but not exclusively. It will also continue to apply to other taxes that are not expressly excluded by the legislation, such as the tax on civil law transactions. Indirect taxes will cease to be covered, which to date has been one of the specific features of the Polish MDR regime.
3. Change to the definition of the main benefit test – following the amendments, the key question will be whether obtaining a tax advantage is one of the main benefits that may reasonably be expected from a given arrangement. At the same time, the existing reference to whether the taxpayer could have chosen an alternative, reasonable course of action that would not result in the tax advantage is expected to be removed. In certain situations, this may result in the MDR reporting obligation applying more broadly than before and covering arrangements that were not previously reportable.
4. Changes to the list of hallmarks – the amendment is intended to align the scope of the Polish MDR regime more closely with the standard established under the DAC6 Directive. In practice, this will include the removal of the so-called “other specific hallmarks,” which constituted an additional Polish extension of the EU rules. As a result, certain situations that have so far been reportable solely on the basis of these domestic hallmarks should no longer fall within the scope of MDR.
5. Changes to the roles of entities participating in an arrangement – the category of “supporting person” will be abolished. However, certain entities providing support may, in specific circumstances, fall within the definition of an intermediary. This will require responsibilities to be reassigned between advisers, taxpayers, group companies, operational teams, and other participants. It may also require the update of procedures other than the MDR procedure, including procedures relating to fiscal penal liability, tax strategy, and internal tax governance frameworks.
6. No individual (binding) tax rulings concerning MDR – the proposed amendments will also prevent taxpayers from obtaining individual tax rulings confirming the correctness of the classification of a particular arrangement for MDR purposes.
7. Changes to reporting obligations and forms – certain information obligations will be simplified. In particular, the MDR-3 information form concerning the use of a reportable tax arrangement will be allowed to be submitted by an authorised representative, while the MDR-2 information form will be abolished.
8. Professional secrecy and sector-specific confidentiality obligations – the amendment changes the reporting rules applicable to entities subject to legally protected professional secrecy obligations. As a rule, lawyers and tax advisers will no longer report arrangements themselves, but will instead notify the relevant taxpayers of the reporting obligations imposed on them. This will increase the compliance burden placed directly on taxpayers.

How will the amendment affect existing MDR procedures?

Following the changes, the regulations will no longer expressly require entities to maintain an internal MDR procedure, and the sanction for failure to adopt such a procedure will be repealed. This does not, however, mean that MDR procedures will become unnecessary. The MDR regulations will remain sufficiently specialised, technical, and difficult to apply that, for many entities, maintaining an appropriate procedure, or at least an internal verification process, will continue to be advisable from a corporate governance perspective,

In view of the enacted amendments, we recommend reviewing the existing framework for complying with MDR obligations before the new regulations enter into force. The Forvis Mazars team can support you, in particular, by providing the following services:

• Review of the existing MDR procedure – identifying provisions that will become outdated, unnecessary, or inconsistent with the amended regulations.
• Updating or redesigning the MDR procedure – adapting the document to the new scope of reporting, revised definitions, changed roles of participants and new information obligations.
• Assessment of whether the MDR procedure may be repealed – although repealing the existing procedure may be justified for entities that do not routinely engage in cross-border transactions or arrangements, it should first be assessed whether such a decision would be safe from the perspective of the persons responsible for tax compliance.
• Review of previously submitted MDR reports – determining which arrangements reported to date will remain subject to notification obligations and which will no longer fall within the scope of MDR.
• Training for tax, finance, legal, compliance, and business teams – with an emphasis on the practical identification of situations that may continue to trigger MDR obligations after 1 October 2026.
• Ongoing support in the classification of arrangements – including the preparation of documented reasoning supporting a decision to report or not to report a particular arrangement.

The MDR amendment constitutes a beneficial simplification of the existing framework, but it does not eliminate the need to maintain a mechanism for identifying reportable arrangements and complying with the related information obligations.

For many taxpayers, the safest approach will therefore not be to abolish the MDR procedure altogether, but rather to transform it into a more proportionate, practical internal control tool focused primarily on cross-border transactions and adapted to the new, narrower reporting requirements.

The Forvis Mazars team is ready to support you both in updating your MDR procedures and in the ongoing assessment of reporting obligations arising under the amended regulations.