Abstract
Research background: Real estate and urban economics literature are abundant in studies discussing various types of property taxes and their characteristics. A growing area of re-search has been focused on tax equity, tax competition, and yardstick competition, where the latter two reflect the idea of tax mimicking. Recently, due to substantial developments in spatial and regional economics, more attention has been drawn to spatial effects. Empirical results are focused on spatial interaction and diffusion effects, hierarchies of place and spatial spillovers. Property tax system in Poland differs from those utilized in the majority of developed countries. As a consequence, property tax policy at the local government level (including tax competition and tax mimicking effects) in Poland can differ substantially from those found in previous research in the US and other European countries. There are few studies addressing the problem of tax competition and tax mimicking in Poland from an empirical perspective.
 Purpose of the article: In the article, we explore spatial interdependence in property taxation. We identify clustering or dispersion of high and low values of the tax rates within major metropolitan areas in Poland. The effects can indicate the presence of tax mimicking among municipalities in given metropolitan areas.
 Methods: We analyze the data from 304 municipalities in 10 metropolitan areas in Poland from the year 2007 to 2016. The data covers four property tax rates: (1) on residential buildings (2) on buildings used for business purpose (3) on land used for business purpose (4) on land for other uses. To explore the spatial distribution of rates, we used global and local spatial autocorrelation indicators (Moran?s I statistic and LISA).
 Findings & Value added: The results suggest the presence of spatial correlation within metropolitan areas. We also found significant differences between metropolitan areas. The results of the study fill the gap in empirical research concerning property tax interdependencies and tax mimicking in Poland.
Highlights
Property tax system in Poland differs significantly from those used in the major of developed countries
We collected the data from annual municipal council resolutions on property tax rates of each of 304 municipalities in 10 metropolitan areas concentrated around the following central cities in Poland: Bydgoszcz-Toruń (Bydgoszcz-Torun Metropolitan Area — BTOM — 27 municipalities), Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot (Tricity Metropolitan Area — TOM — 30 municipalities), Katowice (Upper Silesia Metropolitan Area — GOM — 14 municipalities), Kraków (Krakow Metropolitan Area — KOM — 30 municipalities), Lublin (Lublin Metropolitan Area — LUBOM — 19 municipalities), Łódź (Lodz Metropolitan Area — LOM — 28 municipalities), Poznań (Poznan Metropolitan Area — POM — 22 municipalities), Szczecin (Szczecin Metropolitan Area — SZOM — 13 municipalities), Warszawa (Warsaw Metropolitan Area — WOM — 72 municipalities), Wrocław (Wroclaw Metropolitan Area — WROM — 28 municipalities)
In 2016, the average relative tax rates on land used for business purpose were the highest in Wroclaw Metropolitan Area (WROM), where it reached 98%
Summary
Property tax system in Poland differs significantly from those used in the major of developed countries. 90–105; Nalepka & Małkowska, 2013, pp. Due to the structural weaknesses of existing property tax system in Poland, it is perceived as less useful both in its fiscal aspects and its effectiveness as a tool for spatial policy and local development than an ad valorem one. For these reasons, the present model of property taxation is widely discussed and criticized. It is worth noting that, as empirical research suggests, the fiscal burdens in Poland are lower than in EU—15 (Balcerzak, 2016, pp. 4–6)
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