Tax Freedom Day 2017 earlier than even before

Tax Freedom Day 2017 is already behind us. Adam Smith Centre, a Polish think-tank focused on researching free economy, announced that 9^th of June was the day on which Polish people, according to the newest statistical data, paid all their taxes and started earning income that goes directly into their pockets. In 2016, Tax Freedom Day in Poland was 15 June. This means Polish people’s tax burden has slightly decreased in the recent 12 months.

To estimate Tax Freedom Day, experts took all government expenditure and divide it by Gross Domestic Product. For the calculations, Adam Smith Centre used information from official reports from Polish Ministry of Finance and European statistics institution Eurostat. It was found out Tax Freedom Day in 2017 in Poland fell on the 161th day of the year.

In Poland, Tax Freedom Day is calculated from 1994. However, its history is much longer. It was first determined in 1940s in the United States. Today, Americans calculate it for every state of the country. Tax Freedom Day is estimated in numerous countries in the world by various financial institutions, including such well-knows corporations as Deloitte (Switzerland) and EY (Belgium).

In comparison with its neighbours, Poland celebrates its Tax Freedom Day on a later date. In Czech Republic that day was 29 May, in Slovakia: 1 June, and in Hungary Tax Freedom Day was as early as 20 May. Having said that, it should be noted that 2017 Tax Freedom Day in Poland happened earlier than ever before. In 1994, the first year such date was determined, it took place on 1 July.

Andrzej Sadowski from Adam Smith Centre appealed to Polish government to introduce changes with respect to the country’s fiscal system, level of taxation (taxation on employment in particular) and government expenditure. He referred to the example of Romanian government who lowered taxation with some good results.