Resident cards have become one of the more popular local-policy tools in recent years. In Bolesławiec, the card provides access to cheaper admission to, among other places, the Termy and Orka facilities and the municipal Forum cinema, while Kornel Filipowicz, director of BOK–MCC, made payments for children's activities at the cultural center dependent on it. Cardholders pay less for classes; those without cards pay considerably more. We wrote about this in the article Horror Pricing. Parents Devastated by the Cost of Classes at BOK–MCC
The problem, however, is that behind the popularity of these cards there is also a less obvious goal: PIT tax revenue. Part of this tax goes to the budget of the municipality identified by the taxpayer as their place of residence. That is why a card can serve as an incentive to transfer one's tax filing to the particular city. And this is where local governments have begun losing in court.
Supreme Administrative Court Warns Local Governments
The Supreme Administrative Court annulled the resolution on the Gliwice Resident Card and had previously challenged the arrangements in Katowice. It indicated that merely referring to the municipality's statutory tasks, including its promotion, does not give the council the authority to enact local law on this matter. Statutes provide separate legal bases for setting fares, fees for municipal facilities, and parking subscriptions—and discounts must be regulated on those grounds.
Lawyer Warns: Making Discounts Dependent Solely on PIT Filing Raises Concerns
The second issue is the constitutional principle of equality. The dispute concerns whether the status of a taxpayer who files PIT in a given municipality can serve as a basis for differentiating access to publicly funded services and facilities.
“A resident card, whether a document or an application, can be used to confirm entitlements. Legally, however, what matters is to whom and on what basis those entitlements are granted,” comments local-government law expert Dr. Mateusz Karciarz of portalsamorzadowy.pl
The lawyer warns that making discounts dependent solely on PIT filing raises serious concerns. The local-government community consists of residents, and resident status results from actually living in a place, regardless of registration or the obligation to file a return. A PIT condition may therefore exclude someone who earns no taxable income, lives on tax-exempt benefits, or supports themselves through a farm. A farmer may pay agricultural tax, which constitutes municipal revenue, while not filing a PIT return.
Free Public Transport with a Resident Card: It May Not Work
A similar problem was highlighted by events in Gdynia, where a free concert was organized for the city's centenary, but tickets could be collected exclusively by holders of the Gdynia Resident Card—at the time the rules were announced, about 40 percent of residents had one. A debate erupted over whether an event financed from the city budget could be available only to people meeting an additional formal condition. Public money comes from all residents, regardless of whether they possess the card. In Kraków, a prosecutor asked the city council to amend or repeal the resolution introducing the Kraków Card, while the voivode challenged preferences for cardholders at the Zakrzówek swimming area.
Piotr Roman has several ideas about how free public transport in Bolesławiec should operate and who could benefit from such a discount. One of these ideas is a resident card that would entitle holders to free travel. Following the Supreme Administrative Court's decisions concerning Katowice and Gliwice, this idea can probably be crossed off the list.