POLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Dawid Widzyk and Jan Jędrzejewski, V4 Tax sp. z o.o.
for correcting invoices, which are now much more rigorous. Issuing invoices in KSeF is now the rule. However, reg - ulations provide for certain exceptions to the require - ment to issue structured invoices. This obligation will not apply, inter alia, to: • issuing invoices by a taxpayer who does not have a registered office or a permanent place of busi - ness in Poland; and • issuing invoices to a purchaser of goods or servic - es who is a natural person and does not conduct business activity. Advantages of KSeF According to the assumptions of the Polish Ministry of Finance, the introduction of the mandatory KSeF is expected to bring a number of benefits – both to tax - payers and to the Polish tax administration. Its advan - tages are supposed to include, above all: • no need to print documents and enter them manu - ally into systems; • acceleration of accounting processes; • increased speed of data exchange in contacts between contractors (an issued invoice is made available to the recipient practically in real time); • no need to archive invoices – they will be stored in KSeF for a period of ten years from the end of the year in which they were issued (this may be particularly important from the perspective of large entities); • shortening the basic VAT refund period from 60 to 40 days; and • reducing VAT fraud. Current issues However, the Polish e-invoicing system is not without its flaws and its introduction to the Polish tax system was not without obstacles. The biggest current issues with KSeF include: • high risk of system failure and the need to intro - duce effective alternative mechanisms to issue and receive invoices; • high penalties for non-compliance with KSeF requirements – in some situations, the penalty for
failure to comply with e-invoicing obligations may be as high as 100% of the tax amount as indicated on the invoice; and • the risk of data leaks from KSeF and cyber-attacks. Digitalisation of record-keeping obligations As part of the introduction of a fully digital tax settle - ments system in Poland, changes are also continuing with regards to the methods of keeping records and reporting them to the tax authorities. This primarily concerns the further extension to new taxpayers of the obligation to keep accounting records using com - puter software and to transfer the resulting data in an electronic form – corresponding to the logical struc - ture specified by the Minister of Finance (JPK CIT). Entities covered by this obligation are required to send structured data to the tax office once a year, by the deadline for submitting the CIT-8 tax return (usually by end of March of the year following the tax year). The obligation, as of 2025, concerns tax capital groups and the largest entities with revenues exceed - ing EUR50 million. From 2026 it also applies to CIT taxpayers, partnerships and PIT taxpayers who main - tain accounting records and are required to submit JPK_V7 records and declarations on a monthly basis. It should be noted that in 2027 this obligation will be further extended to additional groups of entities. However, digitalisation does not only apply to enti - ties that keep accounting records. From 2026, active VAT taxpayers who submit JPK_V7M records and declarations on a monthly basis are also required to keep electronic revenue and expense ledgers using computer software. After the end of a given tax year, the taxpayer must send the aforementioned revenue and expense ledger in the appropriate format to the relevant head of the tax office by 30 April of the fol - lowing year. In 2027, this obligation will be extended to other entities. This reporting system provides tax authorities with broad access to a wide range of accounting and tax data for an extensive group of taxpayers. Due to the structurisation of data, the Polish tax administration is equipped with highly effective tools for precise selection of entities for tax audits and inspections.
475 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook