Emerging Leader of the Tax Avant-Garde

In 1998, Poland\u27s Minister of Finance Leszek Balcerowicz unveiled a plan to restructure the tax system. His fiat tax proposal promises numerous benefits to individual and corporate taxpayers with significant reduction in tax rates for both groups. The new plan offers to further strengthen Poland\u27s growing economy--a consequence that is especially significant in light of the country\u27s aspiration to join the European Union. It provides a remedy for virtually every ailment plaguing the current tax system and, most importantly, the reform offers to finance itself This Note argues that the plan should be adopted immediately for the following reasons: (1) Poland\u27s weak middle class is not likely to oppose it; (2) the danger of harmful consequences to those who rely on the current tax laws is minimal at best; and (3) the reform will send a positive message to the citizens about the country\u27s well-being ten years after its transition to a free-market economy