Income tax transfers boost charities coffers
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
20.03.2013 10:48
The Ministry of Finance has confirmed that with every year an increasing number of Poles are allocating 1 percent of their income tax to charitable organisations.
Photo: Glowimages
Photo: Glowimages
In 2012, charities received 457 million zloty (109.9 million euro) thanks to the law concerning income tax allocations, with 11.16 million Poles choosing to participate in the option.
Over a million fewer Poles participated in 2011, with 403 million zloty ( 96.9 million euro) allocated by 10.13 million taxpayers.
When the law was introduced in 2004, only 80,000 Polish tax-payers participated, just 0.3 percent of those eligible to pay tax. In 2012, the level had reached 43 percent.
Research has revealed that half of last year's overall sum was received by just 37 organisations, two thirds of which are focused on helping the sick and the disabled, often exclusively children's charities.
Nevertheless, research by the National Centre for Competence (KCK) indicates that 52 percent of Polish tax-payers cannot remember the name of the charity they chose, suggesting that the decision was last minute.
The deadline for submitting personal income tax forms this year is 30 April. (nh)