Poland’s middle class, broadly defined, is a group that has been systematically and disproportionately burdened by taxes and social contributions for more than two decades — regardless of successive reforms to the system. This is one of the key findings of an analytical interview given by Professor Marek Kośny, Vice-Rector for Research at the Wrocław University of Economics and Business, to Forbes Polska.
The professor identifies a specific mechanism: people earning between approximately PLN 12,000 and PLN 24,000 gross per month, taxed under the general income tax scale, simultaneously pay the highest PIT rate and full social insurance contributions. The highest earners stop paying ZUS contributions on surplus income once a set threshold is crossed. The lowest earners benefit from state transfers and lower rates. The middle group has neither privilege.
Equally significant is the structural mechanism that Professor Kośny describes as a form of hidden tax: the freezing of tax thresholds against a backdrop of rising nominal wages means that burdens grow without any legislative decision — and without the public debate that normally accompanies rate increases. The share of taxpayers reaching the higher tax bracket rose from just under 3 per cent in 2022 to a projected level approaching 10 per cent for the 2025.
The interview also covers the regressive character of VAT, the asymmetry between employment forms, and the limitations of a wealth tax in conditions of capital mobility and the absence of international coordination.
Read more: https://badania.uew.pl/en/prof-marek-kosny-on-taxation-in-poland-who-really-pays-the-most/
