COVID-19 reached Poland a few weeks later than Western Europe, to which the Polish government responded promptly by introducing a nation-wide lockdown. Administrative restrictions to constrain the spread of the virus coupled with reactions of wary consumers led to economic disruptions.
Wide access to data will allow for a better understanding of the mechanisms of virus transmission and progress in the fight against the epidemic.
The majority of people around the world complain about taxes they have to pay. However, in the case of Poland, it is not only the size of the tax burden that poses a problem, but also complicated and unclear rules in place.
Taxes come in different forms and shapes. Regardless, they all have certain consequences. The discussion about what is the optimal size of the state, and which public expenditures are justified and beneficial never tires.
Transition of a country from the category of developing countries to developed one is a process that takes years. The change of category is a byproduct of institutional changes and accompanying increase in the level of living. Poland has been implementing reforms moving us toward market economy and democratic society since 1989. As a result we were able to close significant part of the gap in standard of living between Poland and Western countries. It…
Decentralization in Poland was implemented in two stages – in 1990 and in 1999. The early reforms passed down central government tasks as well as some revenue-raising authority, giving it limited autonomy regarding real estate taxes, local fees, and other minor taxes.
Apart from modern enterprises competing in international markets, there are more small enterprises of very low productivity in Poland than in developed countries. FOR estimates that half of Polish GDP is produced by at most 5.6 million people.
On April 27, 2018, Civil Development Forum (FOR) presented The Bill for Government Services in 2017, which shows the structure of Poland’s government expenditures. Like every year, the current seventh edition of the campaign took place just before the tax filing deadline.
In his first parliamentary speech, PM Mateusz Morawiecki repeated many theses of the government. Some of them are wrong and contradict the experiences of other countries. Others, while right, stand in clear contradiction with the actual actions of the Polish government.
Huge levels of state ownership in the Polish economy negatively affects its productivity and growth prospects. Although the employment share of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in total employment of the Polish economy might seem limited (about 5%), their share among the largest, most important companies is much more significant.
