Gov't slashes tax breaks, including on company car petrol allowances

Money, which will be paid in the form of direct subsidies to farmers after Poland enters the EU, will be exempt from income tax. However, the gov ernment has decided to remove various tax breaks on petrol for company cars, discount vouchers, company Christmas family bonus', tickets to sport events, as well as prizes in competitions and bets if they exceed zł. 100. The Cabinet is trying to decrease the budget losses incurred from increasing tax-exempt income from zł. 2,790 to zł. 3,168, and introducing exemptions for public institutions. When introducing the new PIT law, the government calculated that the budget would lose about zł. 1.3 billion from the c hanges. The business community claim that the new regulations will only increase bureaucracy and waste their time. (Rzeczpospolita, July 19-20, pp. A1, B1) M.M.