Finance Ministry reinstates duty tax break for small and mid-sized breweries

breweries According to unofficial information from the Finance Ministry, a decision was made this week to reintroduce the 20% duty tax break for the small- and mid-sized breweries. It means that the Ministry will go back to the old way of calculating duty on breweries producing up to 200,000 hectoliters of beer per year. The savings of the small producers could reach zl. 4 million per year. There is a chance that the decision will come in force on Oct. 1. Up until the end of 1999 small breweries enjoyed a 20% break in duty, whereas those producing over 200,000 hectoliters had a 12% break. According to Andrzej Olkowski, a member of the Polish Microbrewey Association and Kormoran Brewery board of directors, more than 30 of the mid- and small-sized producers will benefit from the Ministry decision. The Ministry was forced to reintroduce the duty tax break because of European Union (EU) requirements. (Puls Biznesu, page 5)