Since there was no objection, the Confederation’s bill increasing the tax-free amount to not less than PLN 60,000 was passed. PLN, was referred to the parliamentary finance committee. Instead, a motion will be voted on for the committee to submit a report on the matter within a month.
A debate took place on Wednesday afternoon during the first reading of the parliamentary draft amendment to the Income Tax Act. The bill was introduced by Confederation MPs and aims to increase the tax-free amount for everyone to an amount equal to twelve times the minimum wage, but not less than PLN 60,000. zloty.
Since there are no objections, the project will be further processed by the Finance Commission. The Confederation’s proposal that the commission submit a report on the project within a month will be put to a vote.
Presenting the project, Przemysław Wipler (Confederation) emphasized that it was a test of the intentions of the Civic Coalition, whose leader Donald Tusk announced an increase in the tax-free amount to PLN 60,000. zloty. Wipler added that it made many voters trust KO and vote for it in the election. However, he pointed out that Prime Minister Tusk said this idea “would be handed over to God knows when.” In his speech to the KO MPs, Wipler emphasized that if they decide to vote against the Confederation Project, it will mean that they have misled their voters.
The representative of the Confederation admitted that the solution proposed by his party would cost the state budget billions of zlotys, but this money would remain in the pockets of taxpayers.
Poles decide for themselves how best to spend their money
– he emphasized.
The politician argued that the project would also protect the poorest and those earning the minimum monthly wage.
The PiS club supported the Confederation project. MP Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, justifying this position of the club, recalled that PiS had submitted a similar project to the Sejm.
During his speech, Kuźmiuk emphasized that PiS reduced taxes for citizens in the previous term. He remembered, among other things: lowering the personal income tax to 12%. He recalled that under the previous government, the tax-free amount was also increased ten times; up to 30 thousand PLN per year. The second tax threshold was also increased to PLN 120,000. zloty. According to Kuźmiuk, these solutions have allowed us to leave more than 50 billion złoty in the pockets of taxpayers.
Representatives of KO, Poland 2050 – Third Way, PSL – Third Way and Left pointed out the shortcomings of the Confederation’s proposal.
KO MP Katarzyna Kierzek-Koperska argued that her formation had not forgotten the implementation of the demand for a free quota. However, she pointed out that, among other things, this cannot yet be done for the “limited budget”. She calculated that the Confederation’s proposal would cost PLN 52.5 billion in 2025, and in 2024 – PLN 48 billion. She argued that before adopting solutions to increase the tax exemption amount, local governments should be adequately protected from the loss of funds whose revenues also come from PIT. She emphasized that the Ministry of Finance is working on a comprehensive law on local government financing. She believed that the Confederation Project would lead local governments to financial disaster.
If we take a responsible approach to public finances, we cannot support this (the Confederation – PAP project).
– summarized Kierzek-Koperska.
Zandberg’s point of view
Mirosław Adam Orliński (PSL – Third Way) and Adrian Zandberg (Left) spoke in a similar tone. According to Orliński, the project will cause the collapse of local government finances. According to Zandberg, the Confederation’s proposal will mainly affect small municipalities.
The fundamental problem with this bill is that you propose a huge hole in the budget but not a word is said about expenditure. (…) Do you want to cut back on pensions, or perhaps you want to lengthen the queues for the doctor even further? Or perhaps you want to increase taxes on food? Because you haven’t written a word in this bill about who you want to take money from
– said the Razem politician.
If we want decent schools and functioning hospitals, local governments must receive funding for them. Income tax (…) largely remains at the bottom in the municipalities. This bill of yours will hit small towns especially hard because there is no mechanism to protect them
– he argued.
Elżbieta Burkiewicz (Poland 2050 – Third Way) accused the authors of the project of not taking into account taxpayers who pay their taxes on a lump sum basis, nor those who do so on a linear basis. She argued that her party would propose “much more favorable” solutions in the family PIT proposal or a change in the method for calculating health insurance premiums. However, she decided to continue working on the Confederation Project.
Deputy Finance Minister Jarosław Neneman announced that the government had not taken a position on the Confederation Project.
There is only the position of the Ministry of Finance. We do not support this bill. In due course we will submit our bill, which will be well thought out and analyzed from the start
– added.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday that this year it will not be possible to introduce a tax-free amount of PLN 60,000. zloty. The increase in holiday pay was announced in the ‘100 special features for 100 days’ programme.
We are not giving up on the project of the free grant of PLN 60,000. PLN, but this year we cannot implement it for budgetary reasons (…) The Minister of Finance is obliged to ensure that the tax-free amount is anyway the result of our work – certainly not this year and certainly before the end of the term
– said the head of the government.
He announced that “we will return to the project next year and see to what extent it is possible.”
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mly/PAP
Source: wPolityce