Poland: Proposed Retail Tax
As of September 1, 2016, the Polish Government introduced a new law obligating retailers operating on the Polish market to pay an additional tax on retail sales. The new tax imposed on retailers had two application rates: 0.8 percent in case of revenue ranging from 17 million Polish Zloty (U.S. $4.4 million) per month to 170 million Polish Zloty (U.S. $44 million) per month and 1.4 percent when sales exceed 170 million Polish Zloty (U.S. $ 44 million) per month. Sales under 17 million Polish Zloty (U.S. $4.4 million) per month were tax-free. Revenue taken into account when calculating the new tax excluded Value Added Tax and sales between businesses. On September 19, 2016, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation into Poland's tax on the retail sector requiring Poland to suspend the application of the tax until the Commission concludes its assessment. In reply Poland’s Government suspended the implementation of the tax on September 20, 2016 and vowed to press on with some form of a new tax against big supermarkets. The new version of the retail tax proposal is expected to go through the Polish Parliament by the end of November 2016, according to Deputy Finance Minister Wieslaw Janczyk. Proposed implementation date is January 1, 2017.
