Polish companies paying less income tax

In 2013 an average Polish company legally paid 12.9 percent of income tax instead of the 19 percent provided by the law, the Polish media reported May 15, 2014.

“The law allows a taxpayer to write off certain expenses or amortizations resulting from completed investments,” Jaroslaw Ziobrowski, lawyer at SSW Spaczynski, Szczepaniak I Wspolnicy, said as quoted by Polish business daily Puls Biznesu. “In this manner, the actual tax that is paid to the fiscal office is lower than the 19 percent stipulated by the law.”

The discrepancy between the official income tax rate and the actual income tax paid to the state budget is a natural process present in all developed economies. Official statistics show that the actual income tax that Polish businesses pay decrease gradually each year: in years 2009-2010 Polish companies paid an average of 14.8 percent income tax; in 2012 – 14.1 percent; and in 2013 – 12.9 percent.

This indicates that Polish businessmen are becoming more aware of the various write-off possibilities provided by the law and are taking advantage of them.