Senators vote mean capital gains tax to become a reality on January 1, 2004

The Senate Economy and Public Finance Commission is in favor of delaying the introduction of the capital gains tax until January 1, 2005, and has placed a motion to amend the PIT bill. Many Senators agreed with the arguments that the new tax might damage the Warsaw Stock Exchange, and that two months is not enough for brokerage houses to introduce the necessary mechanisms to levy the tax. However, when it came to a vote in the main chamber, only 23 Senators were in favor of delaying the introduction of the new tax, while 49 were against. Furthermore 24 Senators were absent during the vote. This means that there is virtually no chance to delay the launch date of the tax, as the Sejm will only analyze those amendment to the PIT bill which were accepted by the Senate. The only hope lies now with President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, but he is unlikely to veto the law. (Parkiet, p. 8)M.M.