Press: The new tax is already certain. Those in power said that this would not happen, even though they knew about this fee.

In May this year, Deputy Minister of Finance Artur Soboń said that his ministry was not planning any new taxes. It is true that he did not provide a time horizon on this matter, but it was already known that a new fee on combustion cars would appear in 2024. This results from our arrangements with the European Union regarding the matter and the milestones signed on November 22, 2022.

Press: Owners of combustion cars have to pay tax

Among the so-called milestones that Poland had to agree to included, among others: from combustion cars. This solution would come into force gradually. At the end of 2024, the European Commission plans to introduce an additional fee for registering combustion cars, depending on the emission level and exhaust gas level. In 2026, this would be a permanent additional fee for combustion cars.

However, after signing the milestones, government representatives reassured that the introduction of the new fee was not yet certain. – For today, this is a general provision, which is more of an incentive to make purchases than to introduce penalties for combustion cars. (…) I would approach all these solutions with great caution. We negotiated them some time ago, just like all European countries. We know that European countries also have great flexibility today in managing their own funds and in defining these criteria -. – There are no specifics here. This is the fulfillment of European policy. We will decide for ourselves how to fulfill it in practice – Artur Soboń. that after signing the milestones last year, it became certain that the new fee on combustion cars would come into force.

A year ago, government spokesman Piotr Müller also referred to this provision in the KPO, explaining that this solution provides for two variants of exhaust gas reduction. The first – increasing fees for combustion cars or the second – reducing fees and introducing incentives in the case of electric cars. Poland was supposed to be closer to the second option.

Why a new fee on combustion cars?

The funds obtained in this way would be used for the development of electromobility. “The effect of the implementation of milestones within ecological transport is to be the introduction of low-emission buses for urban and extra-urban transport, modernization of lines, construction of new bypasses, liquidation of dangerous places (so-called black points), introduction of mandatory taxes related to the transport of internal combustion engines” – we read in “Rz “. According to preliminary arrangements, the amount of fees will depend on the level of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions.