Polish lawmakers approve plan to launch probe into VAT fraud
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
06.07.2018 09:51
Poland's MPs have approved a plan to launch a parliamentary probe into suspected cases of VAT and excise tax fraud under the country’s previous government.
Photo: Pixabay.com/Arcaion/CC0 Creative Commons
The lower house of Poland's parliament, the Sejm, late on Thursday voted 390-to-3 with four abstentions to set up a special parliamentary commission to investigate suspected irregularities, public broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency reported.
The inquiry is expected to open in September and will most likely be led by Marcin Horała, an MP for Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, the news agency said.
It quoted Horała as saying that such a probe was needed to check former finance ministry officials and others who oversaw the VAT collection system under the Civic Platform-led government, which governed Poland from 2007 to 2015.
A deputy finance minister was quoted as saying last year that value-added tax (VAT) fraud under the previous government was “the biggest disease” in the country since the fall of communism in 1989.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who was previously finance minister, said last year that government efforts to clamp down on tax fraud and evasion were vital for Poland's future.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR