President Karol Nawrocki has vetoed a gambling tax rise in Poland, stating it would have placed an undue financial burden on citizens.
The Polish government’s Public Health Act and Personal Income Tax Act amendments, which would also have raised the country’s sugar tax, were passed by Parliament earlier this month. Under the changes to legislation, the tax on winnings from competitions, games and mutual betting would have been raised from 10% to 15%.
While the amendments were presented as health-promoting, President Nawrocki vetoed both on 18 December, arguing that the increases were primarily fiscal. He claimed the government was ostensibly seeking to address the growing public finance deficit by taking more money from citizens.
Commenting on the move, Nawrocki said: “In my Plan 21, I announced I would not sign any bills that raise taxes for Poles.’”
Discussing the sugar tax, but speaking more generally about his vetoes, he added: “The goal … is obvious: to close the huge budget hole for which the government is responsible. After 11 months, we have a deficit of over PLN240 billion ($64.8 billion). Instead of tightening the tax system, the government is reaching into citizens’ pockets.”
The president added that the future of the Personal Income Tax Act amendment depended on further action by Parliament.
Commenting further, Zbigniew Bogucki, head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, said: “The president’s vetoes are constructive; they force the government to work.
“If these solutions had stipulated that all the money coming from the surplus of these taxes would go to health care, which is in a terrible state, then the President would probably have made a different decision. But this money was supposed to fill a huge budget hole that this government itself had dug.”
Gambling tax veto promotes ‘regulatory stability’
Industry experts welcomed the decision to reject a gambling tax hike in Poland, explaining that maintaining the existing tax rate supported the competitiveness of the regulated gambling market.
Marek Plota, an attorney at Wrocław-based RM Legal, told iGB: “Avoiding a tax increase helps ensure that licensed products remain commercially attractive and limits incentives for players to seek alternatives in the grey market. From a market perspective, this contributes to regulatory stability and supports channelisation objectives.”
The Ministry of Finance’s blacklist for illegal operators shows more than 50,000 unlicensed domains running in contravention of Polish law. In Poland, sports betting is open to private operators, but there is just one legal online casino, operated by state-run Totalizator Sportowy.
Poland recently cracked down on influencers promoting unlicensed gambling brands in the country and payment providers servicing those operators.
Stakeholders praised the president’s decision to veto a gambling tax rise in Poland. They said maintaining the current 10% rate for personal winnings will ensure the market is competitive.