Dochody z podatku od środków transportowych w miastach na prawach powiatu w kontekście zasady samodzielności finansowej

The purpose of the article is to present the legally justified possibilities of influencing tax components from transport means, by the local authority units, as well as the assessment of these powers implementation and their budgetary effects based on the example of cities with county rights. Following the analysis of legal acts it can be stated that the competencies of local authorities are limited in this area and come down only to the possibility of tax rates reduction and their diversification, to introducing tax exemptions based on substantive criteria, tax arrears redemption and spreading their payments into instalments or postponing payment deadlines. The analysis of city budgets in the period 2011-2013 allows for concluding that the significant tax effects resulted from the right to influence tax rates only, however, its influence on total revenues was marginal due to the limited share of the discussed tax in the overall revenue structure.