Dr Keler: Changes to the Belka tax may not be enough
The plans to change the Belka tax raise serious doubts for the time being. From the point of view of the objective of strengthening the capital market and encouraging Poles to invest, they are insufficient. At the same time, they may be potentially problematic from the point of view of their implementation. However, it should be remembered that these are only announcements and the actual meaning of these changes will be known only after the publication of the draft law, writes Dr Grzegorz Keler, attorney-at-law, senior manager at Thedy & Partners on the Prawo.pl portal.
According to the latest information from the Ministry of Finance, the changes to the Belka tax are to consist in the introduction of two tax preferences – one for savings placed in bonds or term deposits and the other for capital investment income, e.g. from the sale of shares or investments in equity funds. The amounts subject to the exemption – being the product of the NBP deposit rate and the amount of PLN 100 000 – are to be specified in an announcement by the MF. Currently, they would amount to PLN 5250 each.
Changes are necessary to make investments more attractive
Changes to the Belka tax are necessary to increase the attractiveness of capital investments. Currently, some other forms of saving and investment are taxed more preferentially. As a result, investors invest their money not on the stock market or in investment funds, but elsewhere. The capital market suffers as a result, and to some extent the economy as a whole, which does not receive capital from Poles’ savings.
The optimal solution from the point of view of investors and the capital market would be to abolish capital gains tax. However, it should be borne in mind that capital gains tax is a significant source of revenue for the state budget – almost PLN 10 billion in 2023. It is hardly surprising that, in this situation, fiscal considerations take precedence over the tax’s stimulative function.
Nevertheless, as part of the Civic Coalition’s so-called 100 Concretes programme, it was announced that a tax exemption of up to PLN 100 000 per year would be introduced.
Announcements by the Ministry of Finance
However, according to the latest announcements of the Ministry of Finance made in response to one of the MP’s interpellations, this limit is to be drastically reduced – to the product of this amount and the NBP deposit rate. In practice, this would mean that the current exemption limit for income from bonds or term deposits would be PLN 5250. The same amount would be the separate tax-free amount for income from equity investments. In fact, therefore, an individual taxpayer could benefit from a preference not exceeding PLN 2 000 of tax per year. Such an amount can be treated as a certain relief for taxpayers, especially the so-called small savers, but it can hardly be regarded as an incentive for capital investments. For example, from the tax point of view, the purchase and rental of a flat will still be more favourable than an investment in, for example, shares or bonds.
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