PAP: What are your priorities for his term of office?
Jacek Kapitsa: First finalize ongoing projects, namely the centralization of tasks in the Customs Service and the consolidation of ancillary offices and tax chambers at the regional level. Secondly, due to the exposé Mrs. Prime Minister, that the modernization of the tax administration. In this regard, we sent for consultation a draft law on Tax Administration, which introduces a fundamental change when it comes to service and support the taxpayer. We are building a system of legal information, will separate national tax information as a single body. We also plan to expand the call center in the field of tax knowledge, the creation of the position of assistant to the taxpayer and the taxpayer service center. We also want to complete IT projects e-customs and e-taxes.
PAP: The Ministry of Finance recently appointed a new deputy minister. How to split responsibilities?
Jacek Kapitsa: Jarosław Neneman departments to manage a group of fiscal policy in the gaming tax. It is a clear structure of the division of powers in the department where we have departments of economic policies, tax policies, departments, departments of the executive administration and management control, and finally a group of departments, holding the administration of the Ministry, which is managed by its Director General.
PAP: And what they are now your responsibilities?
Jacek Kapitsa: I focus on the area of executive administration, what are the tax authorities and the Customs Service through supervision of the Department of Tax Administration, the Department of Customs Service, which are responsible for the organization of these institutions, Customs Control Department, Tax and Gaming Control, which is responsible for the control and law enforcement, Customs Department, which deals with the regulation of practice in the context of EU law on customs and Information Department of Public Services.
PAP: Do you still will oversee dot design. excise recently adopted by the government?
Jacek Kapitsa: I supervised the creation and I am glad that the assumptions of the bill adopted by the Council of Ministers. Further stages, namely writing of this Act and to carry it through parliament, it will be the task of the minister Neneman.
PAP: What regulations introduced this amendment?
Jacek Kapitsa: The amendment introduces dozens of seemingly very small changes that will improve the onerous rules for operating in the field of trade in excise goods. With the development of entrepreneurs have taken into account the proposals contained in the White Paper “tax problems” and the report (de) regulatory “Excise 2013-direction desired changes” Parulski and Associates law firm. Exactly analyzed and found that sometimes those little things did not see, from the point of view of conducting business, they are very important.
PAP: Like what?
Jacek Kapitsa: hate some of the responsibilities information. Eg. To date at the start of operation had submitted two applications for authorization on the composition and the official check. Replace it with one. We have proposed the abolition of excise goods information on the composition of the tax, because that must be accounted for these products in a tax warehouse, in connection with the information to the office is not required. Similar changes will be more.
We want to give more flexibility in the course of excise goods and greater flexibility in the course of the use of tax warehouses. Lengthen eg. The period for repayment of excise stamps (ie. Excise bands), we introduce the possibility of receiving the mark of a third party entity operating the tax warehouse. Hate the limitation that in one composition can not be stored excise goods without excise. Also are lowering the minimum levels of turnover and surfaces that were required for the storage depots to allow more companies do business in this area.
This seemingly simple little revolutionary change, but this is to diminish bureaucracy, which always comprehensively dealt with the Ministry of Economy, which worked. In this case, you want less bureaucratic Ministry of Finance excise tax. This is this law.
PAP: The project, however, change the rules occupancy excise taxes cigars and cigarettes produced by special machine.
Jacek Kapitsa: Yes, because we see that it develops a gray area in the course of smoking tobacco. It’s not about doing manual cigarettes, no weapons or manually twist cigarettes use a razor. In contrast, more often it is the case that a person rents a quasi-industrial machine, and someone else comes in with his tobacco and cigarettes produced from it. So we put a duty machine production in a tax warehouse. Thus, anyone can engage in such business, but under the supervision of the customs office. This case is also no longer included in the Act as part of okołobudżetowej reducing the gray economy and prevent the escape of tax revenues to the budget.
PAP: Why increases tax on cigars?
Jacek Kapitsa: Old regulation, which provides for the taxation of cigars from art, she was abused. There were “cigar party” length of 30 cm and a weight of several tens of grams, which of course you can not smoke in this form. Such a cigar used to recover them for further manufacture tobacco cigarettes. Thus, the only reasonable solution was to make the tax cigars as much as cigarettes. It is simply a tax equalization.
PAP: There are reports that a very weakened revenue from excise taxes on cigarettes, not because of the decline in the number of smokers, but excessive taxation and development of the shadow economy.
Jacek Kapitsa: The fact that the number of smokers is not falling, it is unjustified opinion of the tobacco industry, which does not want to raise excise duty, showing this as a bug ministry.
I refer to the results of the Social Diagnosis 2014. It follows her that the number of smokers has fallen from 38 per cent. in 1995. to 26 per cent. Today, in absolute numbers from 12.5 million in 1995., to 8.5 million in 2013. At the same time smokers more often next to normal, also benefit from the e-cigarette, and therefore less likely to smoke cigarettes traditional. Today, the use of e-cigarettes in Poland 1 million 200 thousand. people, and the trend is growing strongly in recent years, because it is economically viable. As calculated, with the price of a pack of cigarettes approx. 12 zł, its electronic equivalent will cost approx. 2,5 zł. We have yet to add restrictions on smoking in pubs. This meant that now burns out 26 billion cigarettes were less than in 2006.
The second myth is that the very high excise falling revenues for the budget. The thesis would be true, if we assumed an annual increase or maintain the market for consumption and income growth. However, the purpose is to conduct fiscal policy in such a way as to restrict access to tobacco. We are prepared for that, with a smaller number of cigarettes smoked, and at the same rate of excise tax revenues to the budget will be smaller.
PAP: And what about the tax on e-cigarettes?
Jacek Kapitza: E-cigarettes are not taxed excise duty, VAT only. At EU level, there is a discussion of how to be e-cigarettes taxed. In Poland, for now there are no such plans. There is no reliable research on the dangers of these e-cigarettes, but it is known that inhalation of nicotine does not cause an increased incidence of cancer of the upper respiratory tract.
![Hall of patients in a hospital in Denmark. / Photo. By Tomasz Sienicki [user: tsca, e-mail: tomasz.sienicki at gmail.com] (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](http://d.wiadomosci24.pl/g2/8a/c0/10/317699_1416153192_5ce2_d.jpeg?id=822081-2 "Hall of patients in a hospital in Denmark. / Photo. By Tomasz Sienicki [user: tsca, e-mail: tomasz.sienicki at gmail.com] (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons")
Patient who is entitled to public health services in Poland will be able to receive reimbursement from the National Health Fund medical treatment in another EU country. 