Warsaw exempts restaurateurs from second installment of alcohol license fee

Thanks to the efforts of WOT, entrepreneurs will not pay the second installment for the alcohol license this year. City councilors adopted a resolution in this matter presented by the president.

Restaurateurs will not pay 1/3 of the alcohol license fee

Entrepreneurs selling and serving alcoholic beverages on-site will be exempt from part of the fee. Restaurateurs who have already paid the amount for the entire year will receive a refund of 1/3 of this amount. The new regulation will not apply to those selling alcohol for consumption outside the place of sale. "This is a very difficult time for the catering industry, we are using all possible ways to help entrepreneurs. I hope that thanks to these actions we will help entrepreneurs maintain jobs and return to normal operations when the COVID-19 epidemic ends." – says the mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski. Similar solutions are being introduced in other Polish cities. This is permitted by the amendment to the Act “On special solutions related to the prevention, counteracting and combating of COVID-19” introduced on 26 January this year. The ban on running a catering business was in force last year between 14 March and 18 May and from 24 October until the end of the year.

Alcohol sales fees

Entrepreneurs submit a written declaration of the value of sales by the end of January. The fee can be paid in one payment for the entire year or in three equal installments. Fees for alcohol sales permits depend on the percentage content and turnover value for the entire year. A license for beverages with up to 4.5 percent alcohol content is PLN 525; it increases if the turnover value exceeds PLN 37,500 (by 1.4 percent of total sales). The same rates apply for a license for the sale of alcohol above 4.5 percent to 18 percent alcohol content (except beer). A license for alcoholic beverages with over 18 percent alcohol content costs PLN 2,100, and if its sales in the year exceed PLN 77,000, 2.7 percent of the total sales value is added to it.

Warsaw helps entrepreneurs

- This is another form of assistance that the city has offered to Warsaw entrepreneurs. It is particularly important because gastronomy is one of the industries most affected by the coronavirus epidemic. In order to support entrepreneurs, last year we introduced a package containing various forms of economic support, including rent reductions for municipal commercial premises, reductions in property lease fees, discounts for using catering gardens, and deferrals and reliefs in local and tax fees. We have also launched advisory support programs for small and medium-sized companies during the pandemic. Our information point at the Smolna Entrepreneurship Center is constantly operating, where you can obtain information on the aid activities currently implemented by the city. – says Karolina Zdrodowska, Coordinating Director for Entrepreneurship and Social Dialogue.

As part of the #WarszawaPomaga package, you can take advantage of, among other things, a reduction in rent in municipal premises. It was received by 3,483 tenants for the amount of PLN 39,861,300.37 (data as of the end of January this year). In turn, rental and lease reliefs amounted to almost PLN 8 million. Tenants of catering gardens also received assistance, by the end of the year, 58 applications were submitted for a reduction in rent (the reduction amounted to PLN 447,317.21) and 338 applications for a reduction in the fee related to trade in the road zone (the amount is approximately PLN 4.1 million). Entrepreneurs also take advantage of the offer of the Smolna Entrepreneurship Center. There is an information point there on anti-crisis aid, conditions for conducting business activity and types of subsidies. Advisory programs are also being implemented: Academy_Smolna (last year 662 hours and 361 participants), #Net_Smolna 2020 (supporting SMEs and social enterprises, 337 people took part in 13 meetings). In turn, 20 start-ups, young technology companies and business project creators took advantage of the seventh edition of the Warsaw Booster program.

Source: Warsaw City Hall