Government proposes standardized duty for both foreign and local goods

The Finance Ministry is proposing to standardize the excise duty on both local and imported products. The changes would be contained in the bill designed to amend taxes and levies on goods and services as of next year. As of now, duty on imported products is levied relative to their customs value, while local goods are levied relative to the value added tax (VAT) charged on them. The new duty would be calculated as a percentage of the retail price of the product on the domestic market. The changes are expected to be welcomed by car importers who had long complained of being discriminated since they were paying 40% as duty while local producers paid only 25%. The Ministry also wants to scrap the controversial clause which empowers the government to charge a duty of not less than 90% on cigarettes. (Rzeczpospolita, page A1, B1) S.M.