High electricity prices constitute a threat to our economy, and to avoid high price increases in the future, Poland needs a systemic plan for an energy transformation – according to the report by the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers published on 20th December 2018 under the title “Energy prices threaten the competitiveness of the Polish economy”.

“A spectre is haunting Europe. A spectre of a bankrupt state-owned, pay-as-you-go pension system that has reigned for almost an entire century” is how José Piñera begins his book on social insurance.

The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers has repeatedly emphasised the need for a radical change of the VAT rate matrix. From many expert analyses, including those carried out by the Union itself, as well as from scientific research, it is clear that VAT is one of the most complicated taxes, one causing entrepreneurs the most problems. Testament to it is, among other things, the fact that the National Tax Information is most often asked about the tax on goods and services; from almost 1.5 million replies to taxpayers’ phone inquiries, over 575 thousand concerned VAT.

On 10th December 2018, the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, appointed representatives of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers to the Social Dialogue Council. This is the culmination of several years of efforts, aiming primarily at obtaining the status of a representative organisation, which was already achieved in March this year, and then enforcing the right to have representatives appointed to the Council provided for by law.

The grey economy of cigarettes in Poland has decreased by almost 30%, but it is still more than the average in the European Union. It is necessary to take further steps in the fight against this phenomenon – according to the latest report of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers “Grey market for tobacco products. Diagnosis, proposals for solutions”.

On 21st March 2018, the European Commission presented a proposal on taxation of digital economy. The Commission presented both a short-term measure – Digital Services Tax (DST) – and a more comprehensive, long-term proposal. In this letter, we will not refer to the latter proposal of a long-term solution regarding the taxation of international Internet operations.