WARSAW – Poland's Digital Ministry is working on a potential tax on big tech companies, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski (New Left, S&D) told Euractiv, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it was not yet clear whether Poland would introduce it or not.
Gawkowski first announced his work on a tax on big tech last week, prompting a strong response from the Donald Trump administration.
Tom Rose, Donald Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to Poland, wrote on X that the introduction of a “self-defeating” digital tax “will only hurt Poland and its relations with the US,” and that President Trump plans to retaliate. Despite Rose’s call, Gawkowski said he would not abandon the plans.
Speaking to media ahead of his visit to Ankara on Wednesday (March 12), Tusk stressed that his government had not yet made a decision on the tax. “We may or may not introduce new taxes on big tech companies,” he said.
In an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP), Finance Minister Andrzej Domański (PO, EPP) recalled that tax policy is determined by the Ministry of Finance and that the ministry is currently not working on a digital tax.
However, according to Gawkowski, the digital ministry he heads has not stopped working on the potential tax.
“The Ministry of Digital Technologies is dealing with this issue, although some ministries say they will not solve it,” Gawkowski told Euractiv.pl , adding that he believes the law “should be equal for everyone, including large tech companies.”
“Many European countries have introduced taxes on large tech companies, which has brought hundreds of millions of euros into their budgets. Poland should do the same, so that the funds can be directed to the development of startups, artificial intelligence and other areas.”
Asked why he thinks Poland has not yet introduced a digital tax, Gawkowski pointed to concerns about the international reaction, particularly from the United States.
“I am not afraid of this. I would like these big companies to pay a fair tax in Poland, because their billions could serve Poland,” he said.
“The time when laws [in Poland] were not written in Polish is over.”
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek, Karolina Zbytniewska | Euractiv.pl)
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