World Bank proposes online taxes

The World Bank has offered a committee of the Polish parliament ideas on streamlining the documentation process for construction and for registering new companies.

The bank, a component of the World Bank, has also offered suggestions on letting companies pay taxes online
The documentation process for building a house in Poland lasts about 308 days and requires completing 30 procedures at a number of offices, the WB says.

In Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, it averages 153 days and requires only 14 procedures.
The OESC brings together the governments of countries committed to democracy and the market economy from around the world to support sustainable economic growth, boost employment, and raise living standards. There are 30 member countries in this organization.

The WB says the most efficient approach to issuing construction permits is to have one office where all the paperwork can be taken.

Poland’s corporate-registration process is also too cumbersome, the WB says. It takes about 31 days for someone wanting to open a business to complete the documentation process.
To simplify the process the WB proposes that Poland link statistics about the companies’ registration with tax statistics.
The WB also said Polish companies should be able to make tax and social security payments by Internet.
“The vast majority of these proposed reforms have the acceptance of the committee, and we will follow the recommendations,” said committee chairman Janusz Palikot.

He said the committee plans to work on corporation registration reform first.

The WB’s “Doing Business 2008” report, issued in 2007, listed Poland as the least business-friendly country in Europe. Poland ranked 74th in the world in terms of business-friendliness, it said.

The WB has been a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries since its founding in 1944. It is made up of two unique development institutions owned by 185 member countries and the WB and the International Development Association.