Poland is reportedly advancing a proposal to impose a tax on specific digital services revenue of up to 3%, which could impact firms like Apple. Here are the details.
### New tax proposal could impact various Apple services
Last year, Poland’s Ministry of Digital Affairs introduced a new legislative initiative aimed at taxing the income generated by certain digital services within the country.
As noted by Reuters, the initiative faced strong objections from the U.S. ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, who labeled it in a post on X as “a self-destructive tax that will only harm Poland and its relations w/USA.”
Now, as per Reuters, the nation has indicated that it will begin addressing the bill, “setting the stage for a possible confrontation with its key ally, the United States.”
The draft suggests that income from certain digital services rendered in Poland would be taxed at up to 3%, which Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski, characterized as a means to establish a more equitable environment for domestic and foreign companies:
> “Currently, the competition in the digital market in Poland is skewed. Entities that pay taxes on their operations in Poland find themselves at a disadvantage compared to those that deliver digital services from abroad. This undermines the competitiveness of local businesses, restricts our digital sovereignty, and considerably decreases state budget revenues that could be reinvested into enhancing our country’s technological capabilities. The economy is progressively transitioning into the digital realm, and over time, these disparities will only intensify.”
As often seen with proposals of this nature, the draft law employs broad terminology that allows for interpretation regarding what precisely would be included.
From the draft law:
> The draft suggests implementing a compensatory tax on services rendered within the Republic of Poland comprising:
> – Displaying targeted advertising on a digital interface aimed at users of that interface;
> – Offering users a multi-faceted digital interface to enable interactions between users or facilitate the underlying supply of goods or services directly among users;
> – Selling, licensing, or otherwise transferring collected user data, both individually and as aggregated data, produced through user interactions on digital interfaces.
The draft also specifies multiple exemptions, indicating that the tax would not be applicable to:
> – Providing users with a digital interface where the sole or primary purpose is to distribute digital content owned by the provider or for which it has obtained distribution rights, or delivering communication or payment services to users;
> – Selling products or services online through the supplier’s own site, where the supplier does not serve as an intermediary;
> – Delivering regulated financial services by entities under supervision as per Article 1(2) of the Act of July 21, 2006, concerning financial market oversight;
> – Offering, by a trading venue or systematic internaliser, any services included in Section A points 1–9 of Annex I to Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and Council dated May 15, 2014, on markets in financial instruments, along with amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU;
> – Offering, by a regulated crowdfunding service provider, any services listed in Section A points 1–9 of Annex I to Directive 2014/65/EU or services that facilitate loan provision.
Thus, while the text allows for considerable interpretation, the language implies that offerings such as the App Store, Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Books, Apple Podcasts, and Apple’s expanding advertising business could be captured by the new legislation.
Simultaneously, the exemptions are broad enough that Apple may contend that some of its services do not fall within the tax’s reach.
Lastly, although Apple is not the sole corporation that would likely be impacted by this law, certain criteria would limit its scope. If passed, it will only pertain to companies with global revenues exceeding 1 billion euros (approximately US$ 1.16 billion) and over 25 million zlotys (around US$6.8 million) in domestic revenue during the preceding reporting period.
Apple has not yet made a statement regarding the draft law.