New Polish tax targets foreign retailers

The Polish government seeks to attract 2 billion zloty (448 million euro) with a new retailer tax which is primarily focused on foreign retailers like Tesco and Schwarz Group (Lidl).

European approval required

The new tax acts progressively: retailers with a monthly turnover below 1.5 million zloty (336,000 euro) will not pay any addition tax; companies with a monthly turnover between 1.5 million and 300 million zloty (67 million euro) will be forced to pay an additional 0.7 % in taxes and retailers that exceed 300 million zloty will pay an additional 1.3 %.

The Polish government now hopes the European Union will ratify the new legislation, despite the fact that Hungary was recently warned for trying to implement similar legislation, as Europe felt this would be an unfair competitive advantage for smaller retailers.

Portuguese Jeronimo will become the biggest victim of this new legislation as it has a 39 billion zloty (8.72 billion euro) turnover every month, which would mean it would have to pay another 1.3 % in taxes. The five largest retailers in Poland are all foreign companies.