The increasingly difficult situation of local governments has prompted them to explore various possibilities for charging residents. One such levy is the rain tax. What is it and who does it affect?
Rain tax applies to property owners whose size exceeds 3500 square meters. The correct term is the charge for reducing ground retention. It was introduced in 2018 and is intended to serve as a tribute to the State Treasury, financing the fight against drought. Another aim is to cover the costs of dealing with the problem of excessively low groundwater levels. An additional objective is to encourage companies to reduce the percentage of cemented plots. This is closely related to the amount of fees. The money obtained in this way will mainly go to the Polish Water Management Authority, partly to the budgets of individual municipalities. Until now, there were not sufficiently precise regulations that would compel municipalities to collect fees. The year 2023 may bring changes in the regulations that will motivate municipalities to enforce collection more effectively.
Properties with an area exceeding 3500 square meters subject to the regulations
The target group for the rain tax are primarily owners of large-scale shops, halls, factories, warehouses, production plants, or large-scale parking lots. The fee is calculated based on Article 269, paragraph 1 of the Water Law. It applies to “reducing natural ground retention as a result of performing works or construction projects permanently connected to the ground with an impact on reducing this retention by excluding more than 70% of the property’s area from biologically active surfaces in areas not covered by open or closed sewerage systems.” How high can taxes affect entrepreneurs? The rain tax is an expenditure ranging from 0.1 to 1 PLN per square meter of property. The goal is to encourage landowners to create retention systems or at least significantly limit surface cementing.