Fin Min plays with 19% tax on gains from foreign investments

The Finance Ministry has proposed a 19% flat-rate capital gains tax for those investing in securities abroad, instead of the current progressive rates of 19%, 30% and 40%. "The proposed amendment might be most of all beneficial to rich clients who are using investment offers of numerous banks," said Piotr Wysocki, a solicitor at Deloitte. However, Robert Morawski, a tax advisor cooperating with CDM Pekao believes that, "These are cosmetic changes which do not clarify the numerous doubts that should be known to the Ministry from the many complaints it has been receiving." He said it was strange the Ministry had not tackled some crucial problems with the law, such as clearly defining what could count towards costs of gaining revenues from trading in foreign securities. (Parkiet, p. 1) M.M.