Residential property in Poland - council tax or rates payable?

Sounds like a property tax is payable in Krakow from another thread.

Do other towns & cities in Poland charge something like the UK's council tax to property owners or tenants? If so, what is the general cost per annum?

In the UK we used to have the Rates system as a way for residents to fund local services (ie pay tax to local government) for things such as rubbish collection, street cleansing, street lights, etc etc. That became the Community Charge which was unaffectionately (by some) called the poll tax, and that then became what the UK has now, known as Council Tax (and it's usually around £1500 per annum or more for a house, as a very rough guide). Water and water drainage/sewerage, gas and electricity are of course billed additionally in the UK by utility companies.

Its was buy pre 2006 and own for five years to avoid capital gains tax, buy and live in for a year and be exempt. fcuk sake it changed so many time i dont really have a frigging clue anymore.

Hello WB, no I don't mean capital gains tax, I mean like council tax where you have to pay rates every year for services like garbage collection etc etc. I was wondering if I buy a place here to live in for half the year, do I have to pay council tax or whatever it's called to a local tax collection office in my Polish town? In the UK, I think you're exempt if a place is vacated and no furniture in it. Otherwise, a big bill to be paid - or prison (remember the OAPs going to prison for not paying because they simply couldn't afford it?).

I think he may be talking about land tax.

Yes. This tax is payed to the local Gmina yearly. I have a detached house in 13 aras and the tax is approximately 200PLN a year. I am not sure if there is a national rate or if it differs, according to area.

Thanks, Avalon. 200PLN seems very cheap compared to the UK. They don't call it a land tax in the UK, they call it 'council tax' (the council being the local authority or local government that administers public services in a UK town or city. Some of the money goes on waste/rubbish collection, some to the police, fire, ambulance service, etc. You may then ask what does the income tax fund and what does the national insurance which is a tax on top of income tax fund, well basically they just tax and tax and tax us again in the UK, it's beyond a joke). Council tax is payable on all residential property there whether an apartment/flat or house. If there is only one person living there they usually reduce it 25%. To not pay council tax is a serious offence and they like to sling people in prison. However, people on very low incomes and very low savings money in the bank get council tax reduced sometimes to almost 0.