Poland/Economy/Taxes
Warsaw (Puls Biznesu) – Miroslaw Gronicki, Poland’s Finance Minister, told Puls Biznesu in an interview that he wanted to simplify the tax system. The first tax to be changed would be the Value Added Tax. ‘We want a simpler VAT with fewer reductions and a lower rate. In Slovakia, there is only one base rate of 19 percent for VAT, CIT and PIT, while there are very few reduction possibilities. 30 percent of Polish taxpayers’ problems will disappear when VAT is simplified’, Miroslaw Gronicki said.
In his opinion, a 16-percent VAT rate would be possible. ‘Today, the effective rate amounts to 13-14 percent’, the Finance Minster admitted. The VAT rate amounts to 22 percent today.
Miroslaw Gronicki believed that the 19-percent CIT rate was a reasonable solution for the next two years. As far as PIT was concerned, he indicated that the 40-percent rate was paid not by the richest Poles as they have companies and pay a 19 percent PIT, but by the best educated workers.
The new minister wanted also to restructure his ministry. Today, there are 42 departments in the Finance Ministry employing 2 thousand people. 67 thousand people work for the Finance Ministry.