The Legal Construction of and Legislative Issues Concerning Tourist Taxes: A Comparative Law Case Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe the legal construction of and problems related to legislative issues concerning tourist taxes. It is based on analysis of the regulations contained in the conditions for the collection of local taxes, which result primarily from the provisions of the Polish Tax Code. These were compared with the laws of Slovakia and the Czech Republic. From a methodological point of view, we decided to focus on the regulations in force in one of the most famous tourist destinations in Poland, Zakopane, located near the border with Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The research shows that the legal solutions applied in Poland are flawed. In Poland, the tourist tax can as a rule only be levied in locations where certain levels of air pollution are not exceeded; however, this is not followed in practice. This leads to our claim that the legal solutions in this area should be changed. Maintaining the solutions currently in force in Poland leads to a situation in which legal fictions are allowed. We suggest the introduction of solutions similar to those found in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where the tourist tax is not dependent on air pollution. The characteristic feature of this tax should be that it is levied on all types of stays, regardless of the purpose of the stay, the type of contract between the guest and the accommodation provider or the place where the guest stays.