The characteristics of the income tax imposed on farms in the European Union

The Polish tax system for agriculture requires significant reforms, especially in the sphere of income tax. It is crucial to choose an appropriate structure of this tax which should be adjusted both to the needs of agriculture and the economy in general. On the whole, while looking for new solutions, those which already exist may also be useful, because being acquainted with them enables us to use appropriate structures for constructing new taxation system for agriculture and to eliminate previously made mistakes. The article presents special solutions used for the income tax imposed on farms in the EU, which, on the one hand lead to a decrease of fiscal burdens of agriculture, while on the other hand are a hidden form of its support. It also shows solutions used in Germany, France and Italy, as well as in Great Britain and Ireland, which according to the author, represent various types of agriculture and different tax rules. Therefore, they may constitute a relatively good representation of the so-called 15 regular EU states. The focus of the analysis is the personal income tax, which due to its structure relating to the area of taxation and the predominance of family farms, is one of the most important taxes on agriculture in the EU