Wprowadzenie w błąd członka zarządu co do sytuacji finansowej spółki jako okoliczność wyłączająca winę w niezgłoszeniu wniosku o ogłoszenie upadłości – glosa krytyczna do wyroku Wojewódzkiego Sądu Administracyjnego w Gliwicach z dnia 18 czerwca 2021 r., I SA/Gl 446/21

The purpose of this commentary is to critically analyze the judgment of the Voivodship Administrative Court in Gliwice of 18 June 2021, case file I Sa/Gl 446/21, concerning subsidiary liability of management board members for tax obligations of a limited liability company. The article uses the following research methods: an analysis of legal norms in force, an analysis of judicial decisions and an analysis of views of legal scholars and commentators. In contrast to the court’s position, I opt for a view allowing a wide range of premises excluding the fault. I put forward a thesis according to which misrepresentation of a management board member about the company’s financial standing may under certain conditions constitute a circumstance excluding the fault in the failure to file a petition for bankruptcy referred to in Article 116(1)(1b) of the Tax Ordinance Act. In my opinion, misleading a management board member about the company’s financial situation constitutes a circumstance excluding the fault of the management board member for not filing the petition for bankruptcy where such member did not notice and, though exercising due care and diligence, could not notice that the company’s financial documentation is not consistent with the actual state of affairs. I do not agree with the standpoint of the Voivodship Administrative Court according to which an improper assessment of the company’s financial standing by a management board member always results from a lack of interest in the company’s affairs or negligence in the performance of his duties. In my opinion such an assessment of the company’s financial standing may also result from other circumstances and take place even despite the board member exercising due care, e.g. improper bookkeeping or ordering aggressive bookkeeping behind a board member’s back.