MarketUpdate:Poland
Polandshowsgamingaredcard
ThePolishgovernmentfiresawarningshotacrossthebowsofthecountry’s
gamingindustry,threateningtoclosethestreet/onlinemarketandraisetaxes
Thisyear’sSURexpotookplaceatthe ThemonthlyAWPtax BackinJune2008,thePolishFinance
ExpoCentreXXIinWarsawbetween15th istobemorethan Ministryturnedtothegamingmarketasa
and17thOctober.TheAWPindustryhas doubledfromits financialcontributortoitsfootball
beeninagrowthphaseandnormallythis current€180per stadiums.Theplanwastolevya10per
exhibitionwouldhavebeenwidely monthwithothertax centcoin-intax.Forexample,insteadof
anticipated.Polandisoneofthefew increasesplannedas having10credits,onlyninewouldbe
Europeancountriesthathasgrownits well.Theuncertainty shown.Aninterestingideaevidently
economyin2009,despiteoftheglobal aftertheexhibition madebybureaucrats,notunderstanding
financecrisis.Incomepercapitaisrising hasincreasedwith theimplicationsuchataxwouldhave
eventhoughthereremainsdeep thestate’sproposal upontheindustry.Thesimplerchoice bethethirdcountryafterRussiaand
differencesinrealearninggrowthwithin tobanAWPsandonly wouldhavebeentotemporarily Ukrainetowagewaragainstgaming”
theparticularpopulationgroups.The allowgaminginslot increasingthetaxonthecashboxtakings. underlinethewaythegamingindustryis
Polishgamingmarketshould,therefore, arcadesandcasinos. viewedbythePolishgovernmentat
bearealfocusfortheindustry. No-whereelseintheworldhasthe present.Apparently,theprimeminister
gamingindustrybeenfacedwithsucha arguesthatthetargetistorootout
Ironically,ithasbeenafurthermotorof proposition.Naturally,theoppositionhas addictiveformsofgamblingthreatening
growththathasshownthePolishAWPa beenlarge.Whatwouldbeseenas Poland’syouthandchildren.Thisfactor
redcard–namelyfootball.TheEuropean lobbyinginonecountryhasbeen ispartofthegamingindustryandthere
ChampionshipswillbeheldinPoland interpretedascorruptioninPoland.The aremanyexamplesoftheindustry
andtheUkraineinsummer2012.New sportsministerwasinterpretedasnot workinghand-in-handwiththestateto
stadiumsneedtobebuilt,whichisbotha havingactedcorrectlyinthisaffairand reducethistoalowestcommon
challengefinanciallyforthegovernment wasrecentlyforcedtoresign.Headlines denominator,whilstprovidingan
andlogisticallywithoveramillionPoles inPolishnewspapershavebeen attractiveentertainmentformthatcan
aloneworkingintheUK.Thus,thereisa emblazonedwithtitlessuchas‘Prime andshouldbeamajorstatetax
shortageofskilledpersonneltobuildthe MinisterTuskatwarwithone-arm contributor.However,it’sabattlein
stadiums. bandits.’Commentssuchas“Polandwill Polandthathasyettobewon.
G3 l December2009 l Page32
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