European retailers have expressed regret and surprise at the decision of the Polish Parliament to adopt a new retail tax, aimed mainly at foreign retailers operating in the country.
In a statement, EuroCommerce warned that the latest law will simply deter foreign competitors from investing, with Polish consumers footing the bill.
It points out that the retail tax is structured in a way that favours local businesses: large foreign retail chains will end up paying a disproportionately large part of the new tax. In the food retail market, a foreign retail chain will pay up to 5 times more tax than a local chain.
According to EuroCommerce, the tax is clearly discriminatory, and the European Commission should investigate whether the tax is consistent with EU law.
The Polish tax applies to physical retailers with a monthly turnover of over PLN 17 million, with are subject to a tax of between 0.8 per cent and 1.4 per cent. As a result, the 10 biggest foreign food retailers will pay 95.3 per cent of the total tax, while the 10 biggest Polish food retailers will pay 4.7 per cent of the tax.
Most franchise operations are exempt from the tax, as are online sales.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
