Recently, we could observe the emphasis on changes in Polish tax law. The main objective of these activities is to try to seal the tax system in Poland. The following will be discussed the proposal, which includes the latest draft bill on the amendment of the Goods and Services Tax Act. New regulations that will enter into force 1 September, to help, inter alia, to combat unfair actions by taxpayers who circumvent and thereby deduct undue VAT.
Amendment of the Act of 11 March 2004 on tax on goods and services (Journal of Laws of 2004, item 535, Further: VAT Act) went to the Sejm 10 June 2019 The legislator, returning to the idea of mandatory NIP numbering on fiscal receipts, wants to fight unfair business practices that make undue VAT deductions.
In the plans of the new regulations, there is not only mandatory indication of the counterparty's NIP number on receipts, but also severe penalties for its absence, both on the client's side and issuing the VAT invoice.
Thus, according to the proposed amendments to the Act, entrepreneurs will no longer be able to issue VAT invoices on the basis of the receipts left or redeemed, as they will not contain the necessary VAT invoices for the issuing of the entrepreneur's NIP.
From 1 September 2019 It will no longer be possible to issue invoices for receipts without a NIP number. Purchased goods or services would have to have the buyer's NIP number on the receipt in order to be able to issue an invoice on the basis of it
VAT invoice necessarily with NIP number
The VAT invoice issued on the basis of the receipt on which there will be no buyer NIP will be subject to sanctions imposed on both the seller and the buyer. Therefore, if the entrepreneur fails to comply with the new regulations and despite the lack of the buyer's NIP number on the receipt, he will issue a VAT invoice, he will be fined with an additional tax liability of 100% VAT, which has been shown on this invoice.
The legislator also provided for transitional provisions in the draft law in question, introducing a transitional period, indicating that invoices not containing the NIP number on the receipt, issued before 1 September 2019 will still be subject to old regulations, according to Article 106i VAT Act which sets the time for issuing invoices to the receipt.
That provision provides that a taxable person may trade a receipt for an invoice during the three months after the end of the month in which he purchased, he received the goods or the service was performed. Which in practice often meant close four months to issue invoices.
Thus, sanctions will not be imposed on entrepreneurs who have 1 September 2019 they will issue invoices to receipts issued before 1 September 2019, i.e. receipts that have not yet had to include the buyer's NIP number.
Tax fraud on other people's receipts
The amendment to the tax legislation will eliminate VAT invoices on the basis of tax receipts left by the purchaser and eliminate situations in which, on the basis of receipts collected from other entities, the companies request the VAT invoice to be issued to the entity which did not actually purchase the goods or services in question.
As a result, unfair traders after receiving the VAT invoice deducted VAT and reduced the amount of the PIT, thereby lowering VAT and PIT tax obligations. This means that changes to the rules are intended to prevent the actions of the so-called empty invoices.
The Ministry of Finance (MF) explains that the entrepreneurs collected receipts from others and then applied for invoices on their basis, raising their business costs and avoiding taxation. According to the MF, on the basis of these invoices, traders deducted VAT which they had never actually paid. This led to a situation where the state budget was losing around one year 1,500,000,000 PLN.
Penalties for lack of a NIP number
In summary, from 1 September 2019 It will no longer be possible to issue invoices for receipts without a NIP number. Purchased goods or services would have to have a buyer NIP number on the receipt in order to be able to issue an invoice on the basis of it.
Therefore, at the time of the transaction, the seller will be required to inform the buyer of the new regulations according to which the buyer will be obliged to provide the NIP number when issuing the receipt, and when they do not do so the invoice will no longer be possible.
It should also be remembered that if the seller issues an invoice on the basis of the receipt issued after 1 September 2019 Without NIP, the purchaser will be punished with the equivalent of the amount of VAT indicated on the invoice.
The exact same amount of the penalty will be paid by the buyer if, in the records, the invoice which does not conform to the applicable 1 September 2019 rules. The introduction of new legislation is undoubtedly another step towards combating unfair entrepreneurs. The actions of dishonest entrepreneurs, i.e. issuing unreliable invoices, are widespread and deplete the state budget. These changes can be expected to have a positive impact on the sealing of the tax system in Poland.
source: https://www.forbes.pl/opinie/nowe-przepisy-faktury-tylko-do-paragonu-ktory-zawiera-nip-nabywcy/xbwm24s
Author:
Andrzej Dmowski
Lawyer and Doctor of Legal Sciences of the University of Warsaw. From 2011 one from Managing Partners in Russell Bedford Poland. Previously on the BDO advisory network, as well as Deloitte & Touche. Author of the book “Transfer Prices”, co-author of the commentary “The Corporate Income Tax Act”, author of many publications on tax law.