Podatek od wartości dodanej i jego znaczenie w gospodarce

Goods and services tax is widely applied in many countries considering its dependability and stability of tax receipts. The rapid growth of the number of countries introducing VAT was undoubtedly one of the most convincing example of the strong development of this phenomenon within the last two decades of the twentieth century. Owing to its specificity, some entities i.e., among others, small enterprises, travel agencies and farmers, come within some special VAT regulations. Such regulations function in many countries as well as in Poland. In Poland VAT was introduced in the year 1993, however, the agriculture was subjected to it much later, that is on the 4th of September, 2000. Introduced changes can cause both advantages and threats. The attempt at the estimation of them is one of the main aim of this paper. At the same time, the paper shows the role and the significance of VAT in economy with the particular consideration for the agriculture in different countries.