The trade tax had two goals: to level the playing field in terms of competition between smaller and larger companies, and to indirectly counteract the expansion of foreign retail chains in Poland. In practice, however, in the electronics and household appliances industry, only Polish companies will pay this tax. Their biggest competitor, the German corporation Media Markt, divided its stores into separate companies and will not pay a penny. This proves that the trade tax will not only fail to achieve the goals intended by the legislator, but will also be a burden to domestic enterprises, thus worsening their position on the market…

The prolonged lockdown and further restrictions may lead to a real economic collapse. On the macro scale, Poland copes relatively well with the economic effects of the epidemic, but a number of industries – those currently subject to special rigors or a complete ban on operations – are in an extremely difficult situation. Maintaining the currently enforced restrictions after 17th January 2021 is associated with the risk of a wave of bankruptcies in the sectors covered by those restrictions and the spread of the crisis also to related sectors…

The year 2020 has been the most difficult period for Polish companies in many years. Within a few months there have been three giant blows to businesses: a tight lockdown in March-May, reduced demand in “social sectors” in June-August, finally a second wave of the epidemic that started in September, which resulted in the ongoing re-closure of a significant part of the economy…