How to drink your way out a recession - lower excise tax on spirits

The Council for the Production of Spirits (KRPS) envisages that lowering the excise tax for spirits by 30% would boost income to the budget by zl.1.5 million. Easing duties could also speed up privatization of the sector. "It would give the industry a chance to recover from illegal importers and producers, and it would boost legal production, with accompanying payments to the State Treasury," said deputy chairman of KRPS, Henryk Tomasik. Another argument for the cut is that the high excise tax is is negatively affecting the competitiveness of distillery companies. As reported by Puls Biznesu, the State Treasury had hoped that by privatizing the biggest Polish distillery, Polmos Bialystok, it would receive about zl. 600 million and zl. 200 million for Polmos Zielona Gora, but so far investors have shown no real interest. (Puls Biznesu, p. 10), M.T.