Senate amendments could prevent banks exploiting loopholes in new tax law

The Senate has introduced several amendments to the capital gains tax bill, aimed at closing loopholes that would allow some people to avoid payment. During Friday's Senate session Finance Minister Marek Belka harshly rebuked banks who, he said, "are running amok in the search for cunning ways of cheating the government." The amendments passed by the Senate could well render futile the efforts of banks to devise 'tax-proof' deposits, meaning that the crowds of people who swarmed into banks over the weekend in an effort to protect their savings from the new tax did so in vain. For example, deposits opened before the law goes into effect would not be tax-exempt, if they allowed for the withdrawal of the deposit before its designated maturity. However, the final form of the bill will not be known until Wednesday when it returns to the Sejm, which will decide whether to accept or reject the Senate amendments. The bill is now expected to come into effect on December 1. (Gazeta Wyborcza, Nov. 17-18, pp. 28, 29) T.J.