Poland’s prime minister on Friday said the government would make alterations to a package of new tax rules to increase taxpayers’ gains from the initiative.
Announcing the changes at a news conference, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stressed that the key aim of the new rules was to „increase the tax-free allowance” to PLN 30,000 (EUR 6,608).
He declared that „if, at the end of the year, anyone earning up to PLN 12,800 (EUR 2,820) a month were to stand to lose from the government’s Polish New Deal package, they will be allowed to calculate their tax according to last year’s income.”
Morawiecki went on to detail additional changes, including „extending the middle-class tax credit to cover all old-age and disability pensioners as well as those on fee-for-task contracts and academic teachers”.
In other modifications, the single-parent tax credit of PLN 1,500 (EUR 332) will be paid out in its entirety regardless of the amount of tax paid by the claimant.
According to Morawiecki, the new changes will ensure that „even more people will gain from the Polish New Deal”.
Source: Radio Gdańsk, Radio Poland
Poland on Saturday marked the 159th anniversary of the outbreak of the January Uprising or „Powstanie Styczniowe” against Tsarist Russian rule.
Commemorative ceremonies took place in the town of Wiązowna, near the capital Warsaw, and in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Lviv, Ukraine. On Friday, state and local government authorities in Pomerania observed the anniversary by restoring and re-consecrating the grave of Ignacy Stanisław Kuchta, a veteran of the Uprising.
The insurgency began on January 22, 1863, and became the largest and longest of Poland’s armed struggles for independence during the 19th century. It comprised more than 1,200 battles and skirmishes fought by some 200,000 insurgents. Nearly 30,000 insurgents were killed during the Uprising, and some 40,000 were deported to Siberia.
Though the January Uprising ultimately failed, Poland eventually regained independence at the end of World War I after 123 years of foreign rule.
Source: Radio Gdańsk, Radio Poland
Lech Wałęsa, the former Polish president and Solidarity trade union leader who played a leading role in the fall of Communism, announced on Friday that he has coronavirus.
In a post on Facebook, Wałęsa said he had received three doses of COVID-19 vaccine, but that despite this, he was feeling very ill, suffering from a headache and an inability to stay warm. Wałęsa has reportedly suffered from ill health in recent years and underwent a heart operation in 2021.
On Saturday, Poland reported a new record daily rise in coronavirus infections for the second day in a row with 40,876 new cases, the most since the pandemic hit the country almost two years ago. An additional 193 deaths related to COVID-19 were also reported.
Of the new cases confirmed on Saturday, the highest numbers were reported in the provinces of Mazowieckie (7,120) and Silesia (6,442). In Pomerania, an additional 2,857 new infections were reported on Saturday, with an additional 10 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
Source: Radio Gdansk, Radio Poland, Reuters
Polish tennis phenom Iga Świątek has advanced to the fourth round of the women’s singles competition at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne.
The 20-year-old Pole, ranked world No. 9 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), defeated Russia’s Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-3 in their third-round match at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
She will face off tomorrow against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, currently ranked world No. 38.
Świątek is currently Poland’s last hope in Australia after Hubert Hurkacz, Magda Linette, and Kamil Majchrzak all crashed out in the second round of the prestigious Australian competition.
The Australian Open runs until January 30.
Source: Radio Poland
Radio Gdańsk will be hosting a special live concert tonight in honor of Grandparents’ Day featuring singer Bernard Dornowski.
Dornowski is a native of Gdynia and the co-founder of the legendary Polish pop group Czerwone Gitary. Since 2010 he has been playing with his own group and will be joined by his bandmates to perform classic hits along with new material.
The concert airs tonight at 20:05.
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy and cold, with only a slight chance of rain or snow during the day and a gentle breeze coming in from the southwest. Temperatures will peak around a high of 2°C, or 36°F, dropping to an overnight low of -1°C or 31°F. Similar weather is expected throughout the week, with a chance for rain or snow later in the week.
Elizabeth Peck/aKa
