Tusk and Presidential Palace Clash Over Fuel Tax and Prices

Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticized President Karol Nawrocki on Monday for referring the windfall tax bill to the Constitutional Tribunal, prompting a sharp response from the Presidential Palace.

Tusk’s Criticism of Nawrocki

“We had lower fuel prices, and Karol Nawrocki gave us the Karol Nawrocki prices,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on platform X on Monday, July 27.

The head of government referred in his post to the president’s Friday decision to refer the act on the tax on extraordinary profits from the sale of liquid fuels, achieved between March and December 2026, to the Constitutional Tribunal under preventive control mode. Nawrocki decided to refer it to the Tribunal, pointing out a violation of the principle of non-retroactivity of law, as the provisions were to enter into force in August but cover income obtained starting from March. He also noted that the 60 percent tax will ultimately affect fuel prices paid by drivers, farmers, transporters, and businesses.

Presidential Spokesperson’s Response

Nawrocki’s spokesperson responded to Tusk: “Oh, Mr. Prime Minister! Your week is starting somewhat nervously. Once again, you tried to mislead Poles by pushing for a tax hike that would translate into higher fuel prices. I suggest a moment of respite in one of your hospital VIP lounges. Rumor has it you have quite a few of them,” wrote Rafał Leśkiewicz, referring to the scandal surrounding the South Hospital, among others.

Tusk Proposes Regulated Fuel Prices

Also on Monday, the Prime Minister stated in connection with this matter that the government proposes regulated fuel prices for at least the last two weeks of the holidays if oil prices on global markets rise again as a result of instability in the Middle East.

“If it turns out that the situation is unstable again, that prices may go up again, then we will propose a solution to introduce regulated fuel prices, despite this blockage (sending the bill on excess profits of fuel companies to the Constitutional Tribunal by the president – ed.), at least for the last two weeks of the holidays – and therefore when holiday returns begin,” Tusk declared.

Details of the Windfall Tax Bill

The new levy provided for in the bill, the so-called windfall tax, is to burden fuel producers and importers who achieved above-average income as a result of the destabilization of energy markets after the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East.

According to the bill, the tax rate is to be 60 percent, and the tax base will be the excess of revenues over the amount of revenue that would be achieved by this taxpayer using the reference margin. The reference year will be the financial year ended before March 1, 2026. The reference margin is the average margin of liquid fuel sales in 2025 increased by 20 percent.

According to the justification of the bill, the revenues from the new levy are to partially compensate for the loss of budget revenue that resulted from lowering the VAT rate on fuels to 8 percent and reducing excise duty to the minimum EU levels, as part of the “Lower Fuel Prices” shielding package introduced at the end of March.

At the end of June, this program expired, and the provisions under which the reduced VAT rate on certain fuels was applied and the maximum price of these fuels at petrol stations was determined ceased to be valid. Earlier, in mid-June, the provisions on the excise duty reduction expired. The Ministry of Finance reported that the cost of the CPN program was approximately PLN 4.7 billion.

The bill sent to the Constitutional Tribunal assumes that liquid fuel producers and sellers will pay a total of PLN 4 billion in tax on extraordinary profits achieved during the period of elevated fuel prices, of which PLN 3.8 billion this year and the rest in 2027.

Taxpayers of the extraordinary profits tax are to be entities operating in Poland in the field of liquid fuel production, foreign trade in liquid fuels, which import them or purchase them as part of intra-Community acquisition. The bill covers both large concerns and micro, small, and medium-sized entrepreneurs. In total, this is to be about 20-30 entities.

According to the amendments to the bill submitted in the Senate, the limit of the tax amount to be paid was limited by the amount of income established for the purposes of personal or corporate income tax, or to the balance sheet profit in the case of a general partnership.