The government is updating the “price list” of fees imposed on electronics. Not by law, but by ministerial decree. In practice, this means a new percentage added to the price of smartphones, tablets, computers, and televisions. The customer will pay, and the money will flow to creators’ organizations.
The Ministry of Culture has just launched a change in regulations concerning so-called reprographic fees. The new tax will cover the most commonly used electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablets, computers, televisions with recording functions and memory, decoders, and other data carriers.
Interestingly, the decision will be made by regulation. It will not go through the traditional parliamentary process. It will not require the president’s signature. Four years ago, then-president Andrzej Duda clearly declared that he would not sign a law introducing a reprographic fee. The current government is simply bypassing that barrier.
A threshold that… makes everything more expensive
A key detail of the new provisions: phones and tablets are to be subject to the new tax only from a capacity of 32 GB. And that threshold is met by virtually the entire current market. This means that practically everything will become more expensive. Cheap models with less memory are almost gone.
The rate is uniform, set at 1 percent. The fee does not go into the state budget. It goes to a pool distributed by collective copyright management organizations. The producer or importer pays, but the cost, of course, will be passed on. This means that in the end customers will pay more.
While the increase will not be ruinous for single purchases, in the case of bulk purchases we are already talking about huge sums. When replacing computers in a company, or buying equipment for a school or government office, it becomes a real line item in the budget. According to government declarations, creators are to receive 150–200 million PLN annually. That is exactly how much more the market will pay—that is, ultimately consumers and businesses.
It will burden every Pole
Why is the new tax so controversial? True, the government has the right to update the fee table, as copyright law allows such mechanisms. The problem lies in how it is being done.
According to experts, there was no transparent discussion about the model of cultural financing. We live in an era of subscriptions and easy settlements, yet the government is serving up another tax that will burden every Pole. And, moreover, outside the budget, outside parliament.
The government chose the fastest and most convenient path—for itself. But it is the most painful for the market and will be felt directly by buyers.