Public consultations and political pressure watered down the redistributive impact of the reform, increasing its cost to the state budget.

The initial proposal was highly redistributive, costing the state a modest zero-point-two percent of GDP. However, high-income self-employed taxpayers lobbied hard against the changes. After four months of intense public debate and consultations, the final law was significantly weakened. The wealthy managed to claw back many benefits. This watered-down version ended up costing the Polish state far more—roughly zero-point-seven percent of GDP—while delivering much less redistribution than originally promised.