Thus, the cumulative volume of excise tax increases specified in the so-called Excise Map adopted in 2021 by the Government will be more than 27%.
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The end of a well-known Polish brewery. Liquidation and sale
Beer excise tax increases
The next increase in beer excise tax in Poland will widen the gap between the excise tax rate in Poland and excise tax rates in neighboring EU countries. Already today, the excise tax in Poland significantly exceeds the rates of this tax applied in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and amounts to 28.5 euros per 1 hl.
Each factor causing an increase in the price of beer in Poland is associated with negative consequences for the industry: it reduces the competitiveness of our market and causes a slowdown in demand. – comments Bartłomiej Morzycki, general director of the Union of Brewing Industry Employers – Polish Breweries. – Since 2018, the Polish beer market has already shrunk by more than 6 million hl. This translates directly into the closure of breweries and the reduction of the entire industry value chain, i.e. economic problems in beer-related sectors, especially agriculture. – He adds.
Increases in excise tax rates, combined with rising production costs, are having an impact on the systematic increase in the average price of beer on the domestic market. In the last 3 years, the increase in the average price of beer in Poland has been more than 35%. Currently, beer in Poland is already more expensive than in neighboring Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and is approaching the levels recorded in much richer Western European countries, such as Austria.
Beer excise tax revenues in Poland are higher than in Germany
Higher excise tax rates, however, do not mean that state budget revenues are rising in equal measure. This is due to a shrinking market, i.e. a decrease in volume. In 2023, despite a 5% increase in the excise tax, budget revenues from it increased by only 1%. Despite this, Poland still ranks among the top EU countries where the tax collector collects the highest amounts from beer excise taxes. Brewers in Poland are second only to breweries in France in this regard. Beer excise tax revenue
in Poland is greater than in Germany, or even Germany and the Czech Republic counted together. In 2023, this amount was more than 3.6 billion zlotys (846 million euros).
The high excise tax on beer in Poland is the result of a systematic increase in rates over the past 2 decades. Since 2000, rates have increased by 86%. Over the same period of time, excise taxes on spirits have increased by only 26%.
– We sometimes hear voices about low excise taxes on beer or read about miraculous economic prescriptions, according to which excise taxes on beer could be raised by several hundred percent and provide the budget with billions of zlotys. Such views testify to low economic awareness or are deliberately aimed at worsening the condition of the beer sector in Poland. – concludes the director of the Polish Breweries.
The excise tax on both beer and strong alcohol is based on an EU directive. It is calculated on what the product is made of. Vodka is made from spirit, so it is the spirit that is the basis for the excise tax. The alcohol in beer is the result of the natural fermentation of beer wort, so the tax base is the extract from which the beer is made.
