Poland’s revamped duty legislation relating to the import of computer systems and components has been in effect for six weeks, and although many local suppliers report they are being told different things by government officials at different times, a consensus is beginning to emerge as to what the legislation entails. Until the beginning of June, all computer equipment bought in from outside the European Community was subject to an import tax of between 15% and 35% with most items charged at a 20% rate. On top of this a 6% border tax was charged on the value of equipment inclusive of the import tax, bringing total taxes at the border to 27.2% on most items. Once this quota has expired, importers must apply for a new quota which is variable according to the firm’s level of business in the previous year. It is currently unclear whether companies assembling in Poland are being afforded an advantage in the allocation of second and subsequent quotas although firms are asked whether they are assembling locally in the quota application form. The allocation of quotas is currently taking between one and two weeks, meaning that the large distributors are in a state of constant re-application. This interpretation of the legislation is derived from comments made by local managers from Dell Computer Corp, Computer 2000 AG’s DHI and 3Com Corp, though many other component importers including IBM Corp’s East European OEM division appear unaware of the details of the legislation. The effect of the legislation is likely to entail a significant boost to Polish personal computer assembly and it is also expected to fuel foreign acquisitions of those local firms that achieve a favourable relationship with the customs authorities. The applications procedure, unless revamped, however, may prove a considerable bureaucratic burden to the larger distributors. Despite the confusion, peripherals firms reported booming business as local customers rushed to beat the imposition of the 22% value-added tax on July 5.
