Morawiecki: tax-free income “will be costly”

Minister of Finance and Development Mateusz Morawiecki acknowledged that the government’s planned income tax exemption of PLN 6,600 will be expensive, but at the same time has defended the move, according to reports in the Polish press on Monday. “The cost of the planned changes in the amount of tax-free income will amount to approximately PLN 1 billion per year,” he said. However, he also stated that the increase of the exemption amount will affect those with lowest income, and for 95 percent of taxpayers, the amount will not change. Morawiecki laid out some of the specifics of the plan, indicating that amounts of personal exemptions will be tied directly to income levels. “For people earning (up to) PLN 11,000 per year, the tax-free amount will (also) be higher than before. In this range...above the second threshold, the tax-free amount will gradually decrease. Above the threshold of PLN 127,000 the tax-free amount will completely disappear,” he stated. When pressed about the potential adverse effects of the plan on the state budget, he responded, “economics in the exercise of official authority simply has to serve the people, not the economic indicators.” He indicated that the cost of PLN 1 billion was an approximate number, and that it would fluctuate slightly from year-to-year.