„Who of you supports the idea of liquidating income tax and replacing it with a system of indirect taxes?” This was the question asked by Robert Gwiazdowski, president of the Adam Smith Centre, at the end of the discussion entitled 'Fiscal policy as a tool used to combat the recession'. Half the guests, including Vice Minister of Finance Andrzej Parafianowicz, immediately raised their hands. The panel speakers Ivan Miklos, Slovak Deputy and Taavi Veskimagi, Estonian Deputy were also in favour of this solution, while Aleksandra Natalii-Świat, Vice Chairman of the Sejm public finance commission had doubts about which option she would choose.
According to participants, a well thought-out fiscal policy should become one of the means of combating the recession. The worst idea is to increase taxes when public finances are in trouble. However, a well thought-out strategy does not necessarily have to mean lowering the public levy. It should change the structure of the fiscal system. According to Gwiazdowski, the foundation of the new system should be indirect taxes and not direct ones.
„We have the most restrictive of tax systems,” thinks Robert Gwiazdowski. „We pay the highest taxes on salaries and it should not be this way. In his opinion, a modern tax system is one in which a state 'collects' money via indirect taxes (mostly VAT) and frees remuneration from fiscal burdens. However, as he admits, „Such a change to the tax system is impossible for political reasons. No government will decide to go in this direction,” regrets the economist. „Most of us treat VAT as a part of the price and this levy is not as painful as paying income tax.”
