Tax on shrines? The ministry has sprinkled ashes on its head
Criticism of the draft amendments to the local tax act was immediate, and the Ministry of Finance admitted that it had got carried away in its ambitions and promised to clarify some of the provisions. However, the reservations of entrepreneurs remain valid. Their organizations warn that any changes will affect the profitability of some enterprises.
The draft amendment to the act on local taxes and fees, presented by the Ministry of Finance late Tuesday afternoon, has been met with a very critical reception from government agencies, politicians, and the media is competing with each other in pointing out errors and potential abuses. It turns out that officials have been so quick to expand the property tax that they were ready to include roadside crosses, figurines of saints and shrines.
Chapels with or without tax?
“In its search for additional money for the state budget, the Ministry of Finance seems to be pushing the boundaries. It turns out that the proposed regulations impose a tax not only on enterprises, conglomerates and their entire network, technical and utility infrastructure. Experts indicate that the property tax may also cover so-called small architecture objects (currently excluded from taxation),” wrote “Puls Biznesu”.
The so-called small architectural objects, which are currently excluded from taxation, also include, for example, fountains, garden figures (all kinds of gnomes and other decorations), pergolas, water features, cascades, rock gardens, garden brick barbecues – as well as sandboxes, benches, swings, playing fields, and garbage cans.
When the case was made public, the ministry quickly announced that it would improve the regulations so that they would not raise any interpretational doubts. “Buildings related to running a business are subject to property tax, which eliminates certain small architectural objects such as roadside crosses, figurines of saints and chapels from property tax,” the ministry assured in a press release.
It was assured that the issue of excluding such small architectural objects from property tax would be “clarified” in the project.
Property Tax: Unfavorable Proposals for Entrepreneurs
The matter is much more serious, however: over 80 entities (organizations, associations, think tanks, several municipalities) submitted comments on the draft changes to the property tax during public consultations. Changes to the definition of a building and structure for the purposes of property tax will result in a drastic increase in the taxation of entrepreneurs’ assets. They will lead to the suspension of the country’s energy and telecommunications transformation – warns the Lewiatan Confederation. In a statement, the organization added that the proposals are contrary to the status quo declared by the Ministry of Finance in the scope of taxation of structures.
According to Lewiatan, very broad taxation of technical devices, entire telecommunications networks together with peripheral devices, energy devices for the production of ecological electricity (RES installations) is completely unacceptable.
