Excise tax on imported cars to go up

Economy Minister Jacek Piechota announced the plan to increase the excise tax on imported cars and to lower the tax on the domestically made vehicles in the same time. Piechota said that the adequate decisions are to be made within the next few days, leading to limiting the imports of old vehicles, which have been flooded Poland since Jan 1, when the import tariffs on European cars and the ban on imports vehicles older than 10 years were abolished. The ministry failed to give any details on the excise tax plan, but it is expected that it might want to return to the idea presented by the former government, which provided for taxing cars that are four years or older. The tax would then rise 6%-50% depending on the car's age. In January 2002, almost 25,000 used cars were imported to Poland, as compared to 22,000 vehicles imported in the same period of 2001. In January 2002, Poles imported more than 19,000 older than four-year-old cars. kp,bb