In the Act of 11 March 2004 on tax on goods and services one of the amendments made shall apply to Directive 2016/1065. It aims to simplify and harmonise the VAT rules for goods or services.
Today, EU countries use different solutions, including a lack of VAT when issuing a voucher, as is the case in Poland. With the EU Directive, taxation of vouchers for goods and services with VAT will allow for a uniform approach to international trade vouchers, reduce the risk of tax avoidance, non-taxation or double taxation. The provision of services and the delivery of goods in exchange for issuing a voucher of all uses free of charge will be taxed on stocks suitable for unpaid activities.
With the EU Directive, VAT vouchers will be taxed in order to maintain a uniform approach to international trade
After changes to the Act, it was defined what a voucher is. It may be paper or electronic and may appear as a voucher one For example, a gift card for goods or services covered by different VAT rates.
In case of transfer of the voucher one the destination (SPV), made by the taxable person acting in his own name, the voucher shall be regarded as the provision of services or the supply of goods. Consequently, VAT deduction first placing the voucher on the market will rest on the issue of such a voucher.
By this we can understand that at the time the voucher was issued, the goods covered by it were already delivered or the services were already made. The issue of the voucher itself will require the VAT to be charged regardless of whether the voucher is realised.
Distributors who sell or resell vouchers on their own account one destinations will have to deduct VAT on their sales, as if they were paid for the sale of goods or for the performance of the service.
On the other hand, when providing services or transferring goods in exchange for a voucher one We will not consider this to be an independent transaction, in the part in which it was a voucher. Therefore, the same performance of the service or release of the goods for the voucher will not be retaxed in the part covered by the voucher.
It is worth mentioning that if the service provider or the supplier of goods is not the issuer of the voucher at the same time one the destination and will not act on its own behalf, it should be considered that the service provider has provided the service to the taxable person who issued the voucher.
On the other hand, when it comes to the various-purpose vouchers (MPVs), it was clarified that VAT would be collected at the time of the service or when the goods were already delivered. This means that VAT will be subject to the actual state of transfer of goods or the actual provision of the service.
Thus, prior transfer of the voucher of different uses will not be subject to VAT. However, at the time of transfer of the voucher of different uses by a taxable person other than the taxable person carrying out VAT operations, intermediation operations will be covered. These services will be taxed on a general basis.
The project assumes that the regulation will apply from 1 January 2019 and is intended only for vouchers issued after 31 December 2018
Author: Paweł Boś, law student at Leon Kozminski Academy in Warsaw, marketing officer Russell Bedford