Budget 4.0: a CIT- and PIT-free Poland – Oxford-Style debate at Kochanski & Partners
On 20 September 2019, an Oxford-style debate entitled “Budget 4.0: a CIT- and PIT-free Poland”, devoted to the abolition of income taxes in Poland, was held in the Kochański & Partners Warsaw office. It was attended by Professor Witold Orłowski, Professor Robert Gwiazdowski, Professor Wojciech Morawski, Agata Dziwisz (Advocate, Partner, Kochański & Partners Tax Practice) and Izabela Andrzejewska-Czernek, PhD (Attorney at law, Senior Associate, Kochański & Partners Tax Practice).
The issue of justifiability of the existence of income taxes has always aroused strong interest. In fact, from the moment of introduction of these taxes, voices have continually argued for their phase-out or replacement with other solutions, presented along with the resulting benefits.
This controversy was reflected in the discussion among the participants, representing different views on income taxes.
The justification for taxes was discussed, among others, from a perspective of social justice, the state budget and budgets of local government units, and also changes in the level of consumer spending and savings of private individuals. The aspects of productivity of individuals and economic entities, changes in the amount of capital expenditure and other economic parameters, and the tax system, were also considered.
The debate was based on a report prepared by Kochański & Partners Transaction Advisory and Analysis team and Tax Practice experts, previously presented at a press conference, and analysing the potential effects of the abolition of income taxes.