Double trouble

Last week over 1,000 Polish immigrants in the UK protested in front of the Polish General Consulate in London against double taxation of their incomes in Poland and in Britain.

According to an agreement on taxes between the two countries, which dates back to the 1970s, incomes received in Britain are counted together with incomes from Poland and the tax is payed in Poland from the total income. Taxes already paid in Britain are deducted from the Polish tax.

"This is disadvantageous to the Polish taxpayers because of the difference in tax rates," said Deputy Finance Minister Mirosław Barszcz. Thresholds in Poland are much lower than in Britain and the wages in the UK are significantly higher, with many Poles working in the UK falling into the 30-percent tax threshold.

Barszcz said that Poland and the UK are negotiating a new agreement on taxes that should be signed next year, which would exempt Poles working in Britain from paying taxes in Poland.

There are some ways around the double-taxation system. "They do not have to pay taxes in Poland if they have a British certificate of residence," Andrzej Kulmatycki, a spokesperson for Warsaw's Tax Chamber, explained. For those without the certificate the situation is more difficult. "Even a long-term break in residing in the place of residence doesn't result in losing this place if the person doesn't give up the intention to live there in the future," Kulmatycki says. This means many Polish workers are canceling their domestic registration, faking the sale of property and even faking divorces to prove that their links with the old country have been broken.