Tax office loses precedent case on duty on imported car

The court found that Polish law charging excise tax on used cars is discordant with EU regulations forbidding discrimination of goods within the Union. "Our laws feature regulations, which discriminate goods. EU laws are directly applicable in case of their incompliance with domestic regulations," claims Judge Irena Szarewicz-Iwaniuk. The Finance Ministry is unhappy about the ruling and says that it will encourage the Lublin Customs Office, which charged the excise tax, to file an appeal. "In our view Polish regulations are not incompatible with EU regulations. I believe we are not discriminating against anybody. If this was the case, an influx of more than one million cars to Poland would not have taken place," said Deputy Finance Minister Jarosław Neneman. Meanwhile, Enrico Pavoni, president of Fiat Auto Poland, said that the ruling will not have significant consequences for the Polish market, as excise tax does not fulfill a role of providing fiscal revenues or slow down the influx of used cars. (Puls Biznesu, p. 8) T.J.