Abstract:

Local government in Poland at the commune level has various sources of own income, one of them being the tax on means of transport. The need for communes to carry out many tasks requires ensuring income to the local budget at a sufficiently high level. The risk of a decrease in income to the budgets of communes caused by the worsening of the economic situation as a result of an epidemic makes it necessary to assess the sources of communes’ income. An audit, which evaluates selected areas of activity of a given organization, is a useful tool. The main objective of the research for the purposes of this publication was to assess the level of income to the budget of selected municipalities from the tax on means of transport and its share in the total income of municipalities. In addition, changes in the level of income to the budgets of the surveyed municipalities in 2016-2019 were verified. Moreover, the article presents the essence and importance of audit in the assessment of revenue to the municipal budget. The article uses a case study, an analytical method, an application method, a method of examining source documents and a literature review as the research methods. The analysis of budget revenues of selected communes of Pomorskie Voivodship in Poland showed that the tax on means of transport constitutes a small percentage share in total budget revenues (below 1% of total budget revenues). In addition, a significant decrease in revenues from this tax to the budgets of 11 surveyed municipalities was observed in the surveyed period 2016-2019. The analysis also revealed fluctuations in the municipalities’ revenues from the tax on means of transport, which make it difficult to forecast revenues. It should also be noted that municipalities apply certain discounts and preferences when setting the amount of the tax on means of transport, which also reduce the revenue of the municipality. The assessment of revenues to municipalities’ budgets from the tax on means of transport indicates that further analyses of revenues from individual local taxes and charges should be carried out in order to identify potential risks and threats to the financial economy of municipalities in Poland.

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