Poland’s tax system has improved – World Bank

A rankings report co-authored by the PwC and the World Bank has indicated that the level of tax complexity in Poland has improved for the better, in comparison to 2015, according to a report on Monday in the Polish press. The rankings evaluation, which was entitled, ‘Paying Taxes 2017,' saw Poland move up 11 positions to number 47 world-wide. It cited the average number of annual payments (11.8) and the total tax rate, which was 40.4 percent (comparable to the European average), as positives for the country. However, the authors also noted that there was room for improvement in Poland. “There is still however, much to be done, including in terms of durability and consistency of tax law, which is reflected, for example, by the large number of hours that businesses spend on payments,” said PwC’s Tomasz Barańczyk.  The report noted that the average time businesses in Poland spent in meeting all of their tax obligations was 271 hours annually, which compared with the overall EU average of 164. The report also stated that the “gradual improvements” were, in part, due to increased scope of so-called ‘e-government’ processes.