Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki informed on Tuesday that the government has put forward a draft bill that would lower excise tax on electricity, bring excise tax on petrol to the lowest possible level, and lower VAT on natural gas. The so-called anti-inflation shield is meant to protect Polish families from the effects of inflation which, according to Statistics Poland, has increased by 7.7% in November, in a year-to-year comparison.
Poland will cut VAT on heating as part of a package of measures to lower inflation, the prime minister said on Tuesday, after a flash estimate from the statistics office showed price growth surging to a fresh two-decade high.
The draft legislation changing the existing regulations on excise taxes, announced by Morawiecki on Tuesday, is part of a bigger project called the anti-inflation shield.
"We are fully lifting excise tax on electric energy and lowering VAT on electricity from 23% to 8%. This would also mean a significant drop in budget revenues, and hundreds of millions of zlotys in taxpayers' pockets," he added.
Morawiecki added that the excise tax on petrol would be lowered to the possible minimum. "This is another action taken by us in order to lower the costs for households," he said.
Morawiecki also said the government would lower VAT on heating from networks from 23% to 8%, adding that the reduction would be in force for the first three months of 2022.
Furthermore, depending on the size of household, subsidies to cover increase in costs up to 1,100 zlotys would be paid out.
According to a flash estimate released by Statistics Poland on Tuesday, consumer prices in November 2021, compared with the corresponding month of the previous year, increased by 7.7% (price index 107.7), and as related to the previous month increased by 1.0% (price index 101.0).
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: tvn24