To 31 December 2016 the cash payment threshold was equivalent 15,000 EUR. From 1 January 2017 a revised limit of 15,000 PLN. Ministry of Finance plans to further reduce this threshold to 8,000 PLN.
According to Article 19 Business law laws when the one-off value of transactions exceeds 15,000 PLN, a second the transaction is also a trader, payment can only be made through a payment account. The consequence of the breach of the payment limit is described in Article 22p(1) Personal Income Tax Act.
According to this provision, traders cannot be included in the cost of obtaining revenue in the part where the payment was made without intermediation of the payment account.
Therefore, if the entrepreneur had included the cost of obtaining revenue, the amount of cash payment that exceeded 15,000 PLN, it is due to the cash payment limit that it will be required to either reduce the cost of obtaining revenue or increase revenue – in the absence of the possibility of reducing the cost of obtaining revenue.
The change is expected to have a positive impact on the sealing of the cash flow system and improve tax collection
As indicated by the Ministry of Finance, the main consequence of the change in the limit of payment in cash will be the Treasury obtaining savings of at least 20,000,000,000 PLN the cost of manufacturing, transport and securing cash.
In addition, the change is expected to positively affect the sealing of the cash circulation system and improve tax recovery. The consequence of lowering the threshold is also to increase the transparency of the cash circulation and as a result facilitate the fight against the grey zone.
However, it may turn out that lowering the limit on payments in cash between entrepreneurs will not be such an effective tool in the fight against the gray zone. According to entrepreneurs, the Ministry of Finance will not stop many people operating in a grey or black zone.
For example, refurbishers often do not register their business at all, or, despite their registration, do not record their revenue. Lowering the limits will not affect such persons at all. Instead, it will responsibilities honest, small entrepreneurs for whom the gray zone is a competition.
The Ministry's idea is only at the stage of consulting the members of the Business Council with the Ombudsman of Small and Medium Entrepreneurs. There will therefore be a period of time before we can get to know the concrete draft of the amendments.