Belka tax gets the boot

Previously, Marcinkiewicz had promised to scrap the tax in 2007, but in a recent interview on Polish radio station Trójka, Marcinkiewicz changed this date to 2006. He said the government had decided that the tax invented and implemented by the former PM, Marek Belka, would cease to exist by the middle of 2006. The tax is related to the profit obtained from financial operations on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. In addition, the other stock-related bond and time deposit taxes will be abolished.

"This is a very positive move," says Piotr Szeliga, deputy CEO of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. "The abolition of these taxes will certainly make investors' lives easier. And, moreover, this idea proves the current government's attitude towards the bourse is truly positive. We should take advantage of the change in law if we wish to become one of the main finance centers in Central Europe."

The abolition of the bourse-related taxes will cost the state budget approximately zł.1 billion. Marcinkiewicz says that the budget will be able to handle these changes.

The Polish Government is also planning to give farmers an excise-tax refund, starting from April 1, 2006. This idea is designed to help Polish farmers compete with their European colleagues.