Poland plans to tax big corporations to prop up healthcare system

The government is planning to introduce a 0.4 percent revenue tax on big corporations to offset a shortfall in funding for the NFZ, the national healthcare system, a deputy finance minister has said. The new tax, which is a result of changes to the Polish New Deal, the government's flagship economic reform programme, will help plug the PLN 4.5 billion (EUR 1 billion) gap the shortfall is expected to cause, Jan Sarnowski told a press briefing. The Polish New Deal has drawn criticism from business lobbies due to increased premiums on healthcare that they claim could cripple Polish economic activity.