One of the currently promoted methods of counteracting climate change is nature-based climate solutions, which harness the power of nature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable management of ecosystems is a guarantee for sustained human well-being. This underestimated, but extremely efficient and cheap method of integrating nature resources into the urban fabric is an economic “injection” for communal authorities. These “green” benefits should be standard in land-use planning in the era of anthropocentrism. Solutions based on nature were the reason for investigating their perception by Polish municipalities. The survey covered the entire country (all 2477 municipalities) from 20 July to 31 August 2021 through an electronic survey, obtaining 2128 responses (85.9% return rate). In the final result, data were obtained that support the hypotheses posed in the study. The main objective of the research was to check the level of activity of municipalities in Poland in the field of proecological activities using nature-based solutions (NbS). The survey results confirmed little knowledge of nature-based solutions, at the same time giving it an educational dimension. Half of the respondents declared that they learned about NbS only from the survey. Polish decision makers and municipal authorities introduce some solutions based on nature without being aware of their European classification and adequate nomenclature. Environmental awareness in Poland remains largely the domain of urban municipalities, with higher current budget revenues per capita and in the central and western parts of the country. NbS are marginal in rural municipalities, which can be explained by the lack of ecological specialists, less car traffic and more single-family houses and thus modest public areas. The following surveys covering the entire territory of Poland are the first to be carried out on such a large scale.

This paper, intended for researchers, introduces a stochastic method for calculating the optimal tax schedule based on taxpayer utility, population skill distribution, and wages. It implements and extends the classic approach to optimal income tax calculation introduced by J.A. Mirrlees. A genetic algorithm is applied instead of the numerical or analytical method of solving the problem. In the experimental part of the article, we took basic statistics for Germany in 2017 to infer about the distribution skills and wages of the working population. Their aim was to verify whether our approach would give similar results to those known from the literature on the subject. Thus, we have calculated the impact of the taxpayer attitude to work and budget external flows on the income tax schedule. Then, we measured the convergence of the search process across multiple runs of the algorithm. Analysis of obtained results brought us to the conclusion that they are similar to one known from the literature.

The Innovation Box – a tax relief introduced in Poland in 2019, serves as a complementary element of fiscal support and the final link in the chain of innovation support. This preference isnot applied at the stage of creating new solutions (as was the case with the tax relief for purchasing new technologies and has been the case with tax relief for research and developmentactivity since 2016), but at the stage of their commercialisation. It may, thus, contribute to a greater interest and scale of application of the relief for research and development activity. Theaim of this article is to present the essence of the Innovation Box, as well as to conduct a SWOT analysis of this tax relief as an instrument of support for innovation by enterprises. A SWOTanalysis has corroborated the remarks – previously made by industry practitioners – concerning the ambiguous and complicated mechanism of the Innovation Box. However, along with theconsolidation of the practice of applying this tax relief, interest in it may increase, which in turn might be conducive to Polish enterprises. Wprowadzona od 2019 r. ulga Innovation Box stanowi komplementarny element wsparcia podatkowego i „zamknięcie” łańcucha wspierania innowacji. Stanowi bowiem preferencję nie na etapie tworzenia nowych rozwiązań (jak to było w przypadku ulgi na zakup nowych technologii i jest od 2016 r. w przypadku ulgi na działalność badawczo-rozwojową), lecz na etapie ich komercjalizacji. Może zatem przyczynić się ona także do większego zainteresowania i skali wykorzystania ulgi na działalność badawczo-rozwojową. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie istoty, a także przeprowadzenie analizy SWOT ulgi Innovation Box jako podatkowego instrumentu wsparcia innowacyjności przedsiębiorstw. Analiza SWOT potwierdziła – już wcześniej formułowane przez praktyków branżowych – uwagi dotyczące niejasnych przepisów i skomplikowanego mechanizmu Innovation Box. Jednak wraz z utrwaleniem praktyki stosowania tej ulgi, zainteresowanie nią może wzrosnąć, sprzyjając innowacyjności polskich przedsiębiorstw.

Tax audit as an external supervisory mechanism. Purpose: The purpose of the chapter is to identify, characterize and compare types of tax audit and their location in the structure of the internal tax supervision framework. In addition, the role of tax advisory companies, audit companies, tax advisers and statutory auditors in this process was highlighted. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the purpose, an analysis of legal acts was used, including in particular the Tax Ordinance, as well as the documents of the National Revenue Administration (KAS) operationalizing the shape of the Cooperation Programme and its components. Initial data on the number of cooperation agreements and entities submitting applications for such agreements were also collected and analysed. Findings: In the light of the presented analyses and statistics, the tax audit institution is at the initial stage of development. In the case of an audit carried out by the Head of KAS, only pre-audit procedures are developed and verified, which is aimed at checking the taxpayer’s settlements in terms of potential risks related to the fulfillment of tax obligations and allows to determine whether the taxpayer has not only the willingness, but also the ability to effectively supervise tax function. There is no—so far—practice of monitoring audits aimed at ensuring that the Head of KAS can exercise effective and efficient supervision over the correct implementation of the cooperation agreement. There is a strong feedback loop between the latter type of audit and the audit of the tax function. The higher the level of effectiveness and adequacy of internal tax supervision, and the higher the level of tax function audit, the lower will be the scope and form of supervision carried out by the Head of KAS, especially in the form of a monitoring audit. Taking into account the complexity, high dynamics, as well as interpretative divergences and ambiguous jurisprudence of tax law, the development of the tax audit service can be expected in the near future—not only within the framework of the cooperation agreement, but also outside such an agreement.