Polish MPs press ahead with probe into VAT fraud
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
30.08.2018 12:15
A panel of MPs was on Thursday expected to take the next step in its probe into suspected cases of VAT and excise tax fraud under Poland’s previous government.
Image: geralt/pixabay.com/CC0 Creative Commons
The special parliamentary commission, led by Marcin Horała, an MP for Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, was set to meet behind closed doors to examine evidence, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The inquiry got under way last month after the lower house of Poland's parliament in early July voted to launch a parliamentary investigation into suspected irregularities.
Horała said at the time that 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.
Marcin Horała. Photo: Wojciech Kusiński/Polish Radio
A deputy finance minister was quoted as saying last year that value-added tax (VAT) fraud under the Civic Platform 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 to Poland's future.
A study released in December found that Poland’s government was effectively cracking down on tax evasion.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR