12 months ago I sold a property in Cracow for a small profit. Since then I have relocated to NZ and along the way lost all the paper work (contracts, receipts etc). I am guessing that I owe some Polish capital gains tax but I keep putting off going through the pain of dealing with it. Does anyone know how long the Polish tax mans arms are?

Regardless of how long the arms are you took a profit from the country and you should pay for that privilege shouldn't you?

I believe when you sold the notary would pass you details to the tax office. Regardless you should inform that office before April of that tax year.

mmmmmm ...The reality is I understand, that any 'tax' due in one country, is not enforceable to be collected in another country . So NZ seems a safe bet, unless you will be returning to Poland .

Some hidden and unadvertised EU tax directive that has not changed yet, perhaps due to the Rome, Irish or whatever Treaty has not been signed so far . Rather like if you get a points penalty or driving ban in Poland or any other EU country, it is not enforceable as a ban, or the penalty never appears on your home country driving licence .

If you still own assets in Poland , then I guess they could grap them ? NZ may want some tax from you depending on your resident status however :-)

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If you still own assets in Poland , then I guess they could grap them ? NZ may want some tax from you depending on your resident status however :-)[/quote]

You are not liable for any tax in NZ on this transaction . Property tax is as a general rule only payable in the country that the property is located in.
In relation to your CGT liability it depends on when you took ownership of the property & for how long you actually own it .
If you took ownership before Dec 31 2006 & held for 5 tax years ( you would need to have bought in 2002/2003 for this to apply ) you are exempt from CGT. If you sold within 5 years you are liable for 10% on the selling price of the property .
You can however re-invest the sales proceeds into another Polish property within 2 years & this exempts you from any liability . ( In this case it would be 2 years before the tax man came looking for you ).

If you bought after Jan 1 2007 you are liable for 19% CGT on the profit . if you only made a small profit & you write off all your expenses against this then your 19% liability may be relatively small & worth paying for peace of mind.

If you bought in 2007 or 2008 & the property was registered in your name & you owned the property for min. 12 months then it is viewed as your family home & you have no CGT liability.
( this only applies to properties bought in 07&08 as this law was abolished on 01/01/09)