Polish Tax Amnesty Plans Criticized As Unrealistic

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

05 September 2002

Economists in Poland have denounced the government's tax amnesty plans as overly optimistic and unrealistic, according to a report in the Warsaw Business Journal this week.

The Polish authorities last week announced that they expect to raise some Zl 500 million ($122 million) in additional taxes, by allowing tax evaders to repatriate assets stashed overseas for a one-off fee of 7.5% of the value of all undeclared income earned between 1996 and 2001. The bill containing the provisions for establishing the tax amnesty is currently under consideration in Parliament.

However, speaking to the WBJ, Chief Economist for BRE Bank, Janusz Jankowiak alleged that: 'The Zl 500 million figure is taken out of thin air. The proceeds will be much lower.'

He also warned that: 'If the risk resulting from disclosing your secrets is higher than that of staying in the shadow economy, then the evaders will not own up.'

The draft bill also calls for property declarations to be filed by the country's wealthiest citizens in order to clamp down on future tax evasion. However, economists predict that this is also likely to be unpopular, as the tax office is offering no guarantees as to how it will deal with past and future tax evaders:

'Nobody is giving them...a guarantee. The officer dealing with a particular taxpayer may, for instance, refer the case to a prosecutor,' Mr Jankowiak explained.

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