Counterfeit alcohol in Poland?

Can one typically trust on that somewhat decent looking alko shops sell only genuine strong alcohol, or is there a risk of being offered counterfeit products? Should all bottles have some kind of tax/authenticity marking and if so, could someone post a link into a sample?

It's very safe to buy it in normal shops. They would never dare to sell counterfeit alcohol. There is a tax-paper-strip on the top of all bottles.

I have lived 3 years in Poland, I have never seen any counterfeit alcohol in normal shops.

Thanks. The reason why I ask is that I happened to buy a bottle that seems otherwise completely OK (even brand name and logos stamped on the glass, and the cap is properly sealed), but the tax stamp strip reads "pow. 0,2l" even though the bottle is 0,7l, which is dodgy...

That does sound a bit dodgy - it could be a mistake, or it could be counterfeit. If you buy from chain stores or a local off-licence it should be OK though.

Depends on what the "pow. 0,2l" stands for. If it stands for "powyżej" ("over") then I don't see a problem. Sorry, I have no idea what is normally written on the strip thingy, never checked... ;-)

A tax rate for bottles containing more than 0.2 litres of an alcoholic drink?

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banderola

pl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plik:Polish_excise_stamps.png&filetimestamp=20100406105703

If it's not wine, it's correct. Because it means more than 0,2l high-% alc. They only write more/less than 0,2 l.

For wine you have only more/less than 0,5 l.

I was told when buying Vodka look for the authentic seal, its usually paper and attached to the lid and the bottle.

They sell petrol mixed with water so why not watered down alcohol, it has happened.

Thanks for all, it seems that I just didn't catch this point at first:


- and the strip looks just like the one in the link provided by lobsterg, so everything seems to be in order. So I can enjoy my polish souvenir wodka without worries...