News Parkiet

Capital market

Tax authorities don?t know how stock market works

An unnamed Polish investor reported to PARKIET that local tax authorities told him he must pay taxes after transferring his holdings from one broker to another. Tax officials somehow decided the transfer is identical to sale of stock, arguing he should have paid capital gains taxes. Our reader explained in a letter to the tax office that officials have made an error, but he?s been waiting for a reply for two months so far. The Ministry of Finance, which oversees tax offices, was surprised by the curious legal interpretation made by its subordinates. Starting this year the Poland begun levying tax on capital market gains. However, our reader, who made a transfer of his holdings in 2002, would have to pay a tax if he sold his shares, because he was granted with them as an issuer?s employee.

IT

ATM to sell up to 50 million zloty worth

of new stock

ATM, a telecommunication and IT company, will file for IPO with KPWiG, Polish Securities and Exchanges Commission, within weeks. Warsaw-based company plans to sell up to 400.000 newly issued shares. Some 800.000 existing shares owned by current shareholders, including funds from Polish Pre-IPO Funds group, will also be sold. The funds control 30 percent of the ATM stock. Altogether the company plans to raise as much as 50 mln zloty ($13 million) from IPO. The sale is tentatively scheduled for June this year.

Energy sector

PEC Czestochowa near bankruptcy

PEC Czestochowa, a state-owned heating company, may file for bankruptcy as early as this month. If it happens, the city of Czestochowa in south-central Poland may lose major supplier of home heating. The company is burdened with some 80 mln zloty in outstanding debts and has coal supplies for just two days. - We lost financial liquidity more than a year ago - admitted Jacek Babicz, senior executive at the company. PEC Czestochowa has been scheduled for privatisation for two years. However, the Treasury Ministry which controls the company, hasn?t made any decisions so far.