Poland scraps income tax for young people in bid to tempt emigrants home

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Poland will this week scrap income tax for roughly two million young workers in a bid to tempt emigrants to return home.

1.7 million people have left Poland in the past 15 years, spurred on by higher wages and opportunities in western Europe.

Young people have disproportionately made use of the EU freedom of movement they have enjoyed since Poland joined the bloc in 2004 - and the government wants to reverse the trend.

"It's as if the entire city of Warsaw left, it's a gigantic loss," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

"This must end, young people must stay in Poland."

Mr Morawiecki added that opportunities for young people should "match those available in the West".

The wide-spread emigration has led to skills shortages, with every third employer in Poland reporting one.

Such skills shortages are highest in the construction, manufacturing, mining, and transport sectors, according to a European Commission analysis.

From 1 August Poles under the age of 26 who earn less than 85,528 zloty (£18,519) a year will not have to pay income tax. The threshold is high in comparison to the average salary in Poland, which is around 60,000 zloty a year.

Since 2016 the number of Polish people living abroad in other EU countries has been levelling off and more recently falling, according to the EU's statistics agency Eurostat.

The income tax cut is expected to help reverse a trend that has been happening naturally as income rise in Poland, partly thanks to economic integration with the EU, as well as substantial development aid.

The ruling right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) party proposed the policy ahead of the European Parliament elections earlier this year.