The government reassures Poles that there will be no tax increases or the introduction of new levies. In the election campaign, we heard from Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki that only Andrzej Duda is “the guarantor of no tax increases”.
Sugar levy and from “monkeys”
What these announcements look like in practice, we have seen in recent weeks on the example of the so-called sugar duty and fees to the so-called monkeys with alcohol. Even if we consider that this is a fair burden, promoting a healthy lifestyle, there is considerable disgust around its introduction.
It started in the Sejm, where work on the draft act took a grotesque course – it was decided … to amend the act that did not exist in legal circulation. The MPs of the United Right were not convinced by the doubts of experts or the opposition, or even the warning of the representative of the Legislative Office of the Sejm that it would be bizarre to amend something that had not even been passed by the Sejm.
Then President Andrzej Duda – in the election campaign “a guarantee of no tax increases” – three weeks after being sworn in, he signed the act. And when Deputy Minister of Finance Piotr Patkowski was asked in Radio WNET as it is with the lack of tax increases, he explained that formally the sugar fee is not a tax, because the proceeds from it will not go to the state budget, but the National Health Fund.
In any case, more money will flow out of the pockets of people who in 2021 will decide to buy sweetened drinks and “monkeys” with vodka, however, more money will flow out than today. What amounts are we talking about?
It is estimated that sweetened drinks will increase in price by several dozen percent. Specifically, the additional fee is to be at least PLN 0.50 per liter. If the drink contains more than 5 g of sugar per 100 ml of the product, the fee will be even higher – by 5 grams for each additional gram of sugar per liter of drink. Another 10 grams per liter is to be levied on beverages with added taurine or caffeine.
The fee for “monkeys”, ie alcoholic drinks in bottles with a capacity of up to 300 ml, in turn, is to be PLN 25 for each liter of 100% alcohol. For example, an additional fee for a 200 ml bottle of vodka is 40 percent. will be PLN 2.
Sugar tax and “monkeys” will be paid, among others wholesalers, but ultimately consumers will pay more for sweetened drinks or alcohol in small bottles. Unless, of course, the consumption of sweetened drinks and alcohol in “monkeys” will be limited – which will certainly be good not only for our health, but also for our wallets.
Power fee
From 1 January 2021, the so-called power fee. It will be a new item on the invoices not only of millions of households, but also of companies.
It is estimated that an “average” household, as a result of the new regulations, will pay about PLN 100 more per year for energy. But how much will it be – it will depend, firstly, on the energy consumption in a specific house (or flat, workplace, etc.), and secondly – on the final amount of the power fee for 1 mWh (this is not known yet).
The revenues from the capacity fee are to be used to secure the electricity supply process – i.e. for the construction of new power plants and modernization of the existing ones. The fee is also intended to encourage self-production of energy thanks to the use of own installations (e.g. photovoltaic).
Conversion fee
The issue of the reform of Open Pension Funds also remains in suspension. The government wanted to implement it this year, but the plans were thwarted by the pandemic. Another approach to the implementation of the reform in 2021 is very likely.
In a nutshell – by default, the government will repaint the current OFEs into Individual Retirement Accounts, adding to them the possibility of withdrawing the accumulated funds upon reaching retirement age. The government calls it “privatization” of money from OFE – today this capital finally goes to ZUS and increases the amount of the pension.
Unfortunately, the full pool of funds will not be transferred to IKE from OFE – in the meantime, it will evaporate from it under the so-called the transformation fee of 15 percent As today, on average, every Pole has approx. 8.5 thousand. PLN, would lose over a thousand zlotys during the reform.
An alternative to transferring funds from OFE to IKE will be transferring this money to an account at ZUS. Then the transformation fee will not be (for which it will be taxed) pension).
Read more: Liquidation of OFE. The most confusing point is the 15% fee, but there are more pitfalls
Trade tax
The government included in the draft of next year’s budget revenues from trade tax – PLN 1.5 billion. He wanted to introduce this levy a few years ago, but the European Commission had doubts about its construction. In 2019, a ruling positive for the Polish government was issued by the Court of the European Union, but now we are still waiting for the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU.
For now, the trade tax is suspended until the end of 2020, so it is possible that it will apply from the beginning of 2021.
The trade tax is to be imposed on retail chains and will amount to 0.8%. from the income of PLN 17-170 million per month, or 1.4 percent. from income exceeding PLN 170 million per month.
Again – as in the case of the monkeys or the sugar levy, and earlier, for example, the bank tax – although it is not consumers who will be directly charged with the new levy, it is very likely that entrepreneurs will recapture it. prices products.
Tax hitting companies?
In recent days, there are also new plans of the Ministry of Finance towards some companies. The government’s work list shows that the ministry wants to impose CIT on limited partnerships. It is estimated that tens of thousands of family businesses operate in this form.
The government, of course, explains its plans with the need to seal the financial system.
This is not a raise, it is equal opportunities for everyone. Why do we create artificial ownership to avoid paying tax?
– commented the plans of the Ministry of Finance, its boss Tadeusz Kościński in an interview with interia.pl.
But Łukasz Czucharski, an expert of the Employers of Poland on tax matters, fears that again we can deal with a situation in which thousands of entrepreneurs would bear the cost of fighting the percentage of unreliable entities evading taxation.
The cost of doing business will increase significantly due to the introduction of double taxation of income
– suspects Czucharski.
Additionally, as Rzeczpospolita claims, The Ministry of Finance also plans to oblige entrepreneurs to “disclose their tax policy plans”. According to experts, this may be a pretext to conduct inspections and check why the taxes paid do not match the previous plan.
Abolition relief liquidation
Another government plan is to eliminate the so-called abolition relief. According to Anna Misiak, tax advisor, partner at MDDP and head of the Personal Tax and Employer Advisory Team, this change will hit Polish residents earning money abroad and settling their accounts in Poland.
Taxpayers in Poland will have to pay a much higher tax than before, when the tax relief is applied. The lack of the relief will cause a return to the times before 2007, when the income generated in countries with an unfavorable method of tax avoidance (tax credit) was not declared in Poland, precisely due to the lack of solutions eliminating double taxation and excessive tax burden in Poland
– comments Misiak. He points out that for people who earn income from work, e.g. from Spain, France or Germany, a favorable method of avoiding double taxation will still be available, because this is the result of Poland’s agreements with these countries. But people earning money, e.g. in the Netherlands, Belgium or Great Britain, will have to tax their income from abroad in Poland and pay extra tax according to the Polish scale.
Local tributes go up
As he notes “Business Insider Polska”, from 2021, some local taxes may also be increased, depending on the amount (and in general the will to collect) from individual municipalities. From around PLN 125 to PLN 130, the maximum annual amount of the so-called dog tax. However, not every commune collects it.
Up in 2021 by up to 3.9 percent property tax may also go.
Other fees and taxes – certain and on the horizon
From the beginning of 2021, it will go up from PLN 22.70 to PLN 24.50 monthly subscription fee for the use of a television or television and radio.
According to the government’s plans, the so-called deposit fee. As PwC experts explain, the fee will be levied on lubricants and, as a rule, will be recovered if used products are returned. The deposit fee is already in operation for e.g. batteries.
In the following years, one should also take into account new taxes at the level of the entire Union. It includes a tax on non-recyclable waste (the so-called plastic tax) and a carbon duty. Digital giants are also waiting for additional fees.
Probably from 2022, an extended fee for water services will also apply – i.e. the so-called a tax on concrete (colloquially and perversely, to the justified frustration of environmentalists, also called the “tax on rain”). More people than at present will have to pay an additional fee (up to several hundred zlotys in the case of single-family houses), if they build plots of land to a large extent without collecting rainwater. We have counted in this article how much exactly in what case the “tax on concrete” can amount.
