Distillers hope new lower duties on spirit will bring much need relief

Today the new lower excise duties on spirit comes into force. The Finance Ministry has cut taxes in an attempt to counter vodka smuggling from countries of the former soviet union, which together with high duties were crushing distillers in Poland. Central Statistical Office data shows that the excise tax was systematically increasing to 1998. This caused income from duties to fall as the public bought far cheaper illegally imported spirit. Distillers hope that lower duties will reverse this trend, while the government hopes to boost budget revenues. Skeptics argue increased sales may not plug the zl. 1 billion gap from the cut in duties. The public are already benefitting as cut-throat competition on the spirit market has prompted producers to lower their prices even before the lower duties took effect. State-owned Polmos distillers accuse their competitors of breaking the law. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 4) M.T.