Harmonization of the value added tax in Poland in thelight of the regulatory impact assessment (RIA)

<ns3:p>In this publication, using the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), an analysis and evaluation of the impact of theVAT harmonization process on the labor market and the competitiveness of the economy and entrepreneurship,including the functioning of market entities, was carried out. For the purposes of the above studies, a thesis wasformulated about the negative market effects of harmonization. According to the authors, the tax on goods andservices, due to its characteristics, has the greatest impact on competition in the internal market, which justifiesthe need for its harmonization. After identifying and indicating the factors determining the importance of the harmonizationprocess in terms of the market, its legal aspects were discussed. The authors are critical of the view that identifies the process of harmonization with the unification of tax law. The study presents both formal andmaterial premises of harmonization. The harmonization process, which is a consequence of the ongoing economicand political integration in the European Union, is associated with certain legal restrictions, e.g. the requirementof unanimity, the principle of necessity, the way of defining the internal market or the scope of EU competencesrelated to the right of EU bodies to adopt new regulations. Considerations on the market effects of harmonizationwere preceded by a presentation of the effects of previous work related to it. In the theoretical part of the article,national legal acts implementing all forms of legal acts of the European Union are enumerated. In the analyticalpart, the authors, based on publicly available information and data obtained from the Ministry of Finance in themode of access to public information, assessed the expected effects of the introduced solutions implementingthe provisions related to the harmonization of tax on goods and services on the labor market and on the competitivenessof the economy and entrepreneurship, including the functioning of enterprises in 2011-2022. The analysiswas carried out taking into account monetary and non-monetary impacts, which enabled the identification ofthe measurable and non-measurable effects of individual regulations implementing EU law. On the basis of theconducted analysis, the authors criticize the thesis on the neg ative market effects of harmonization.</ns3:p>