Kolodko talks of capital gains tax, but not to Miller

Finance Minister Grzegorz Kolodko said yesterday he was likely to introduce a capital gains tax and overhaul the costly farm pension system as part of t he country's planned fiscal reforms, linked to European Union entry. Kolodko said the introduction of a capital gains tax was a matter of time and was to be expected, "In the coming years, not necessarily in 2004". Brokerage house s and the Warsaw Stock Exchange gave the plan a rather cold reception, sayin g it would be another nail in the coffin of the already ailing Polish bourse . Tax advisors and a number of politicians interviewed by Parkiet, also clai m that imposing a capital gains tax on a bourse that is still developing is a truly bad idea. Prime Minister Leszek Miller, when asked about the introdu ction of the tax in 2004 said, "The Finance Minister has told me nothing abo ut it". (Parkiet, p.1; Reuters; Puls Biznesu, p. 16) J.K.