At the session of the Sejm on 9 April 2015 Finally, the Act amending the Act on Tax on Goods and Services and the Act on Public Procurement was adopted. The most important changes in the amendment concern the following:
- • Extend the scope of the reversed VAT to mobile and plastic semi-finished products of certain metals;
- • Solid tax liability of the purchaser of the goods;
- • Regulation of the application of the so-called relief for bad debts;
- • Extending the use of summary information;
- • Increase in the VAT rate on goods used for fire protection;
- • Extended list of goods subject to joint tax liability and monthly settlement obligations;
- • Changes in the use of guarantee bonds.
Members voted as recommended by the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance. Changes to enter into force 1 July 2015
one the most important changes introduced by the amendment to the VAT Act are the extension of the catalogue of goods related to the obligation to apply the so-called reverse VAT. It is a mechanism known to taxable persons engaged in intra-Community transactions. The essence of this mechanism is the obligation on the buyer, not the seller, to settle VAT. For taxpayers not using such a mechanism so far, the change can be quite burdensome.
The Act introduces a new catalogue of goods for which the reverse VAT procedure will be compulsory. These are primarily mobile devices such as mobile phones, including smartphones, notebooks, laptops, tablets and video game consoles. The reverse VAT mechanism will also include unworked plastic lead, zinc and aluminium intermediates.
The Ministry of Finance has decided to do so, due to tax offences in the electronics trade. From 2011 the total amount of VAT fraud in this sector may reach 3,000,000,000 PLN. The Act also introduces a transitional provision introducing a limit of 20,000 PLN.
Inverted VAT only applies to deliveries made from the date of entry into force of the Act. The possibility of implementing this institution for taxpayers applies only to entities active in VAT.
As a result of the solutions introduced, the taxpayer must face difficulties concerning, inter alia, the transfer of the VAT liability to the purchaser of the goods. It is the purchaser (active VAT taxable person) in the declaration submitted VAT-7, VAT-7K or VAT-7D will be required to demonstrate the amount of tax due, which will also constitute the amount of input tax.
Introduction of a limit of 20,000 PLN it also causes difficulties for practical reasons - the need to monitor the value of supplies for each buyer and carried out by lots, and thus the differentiation of ways of calculating VAT is undoubtedly onerous and represents a major obstacle to trade, especially in the case of companies with multiple points across the country.
In practice, it seems complicated for the taxpayer to apply reversed VAT only for amounts above 20,000 PLN, also in the case of contracts carried out by lots where taxpayers will be required to further closely monitor the volume of transactions carried out and determine the value of the benefit until the amount is exceeded. 20,000 PLN and after exceeding that amount.
The new rules also provide for summary information for reverse charge transactions to be submitted by sellers. On the basis of this information, it will be possible to verify whether the purchasers have complied with the tax settlement obligation. It is worth noting that this is a new type of information used in domestic trade. To date, summary information has only been used for Union transactions.
However, it is worth noting that despite the entry into force of changes already 1 July 2015 Currently, only the draft Regulation of the Minister of Finance on the template of summary information in national circulation is available.
Adopted at the last session of the Sejm, the Act amending the Goods and Services Tax Act and the Act – Public Procurement Law introduces the tax liability of the buyer of the goods for the seller's obligations. This is the so-called joint and several liability tax, which refers to the supply of digital cameras and consumables to printers.
The amendment covers the extension of the scope of the list of goods covered by the so-called joint tax liability and the obligation to apply monthly accounts. The amendment to the Goods and Services Tax Act and the Public Procurement Law regulated the issue of relief for so-called bad debts.
Payments not paid within the time limit 150 the days following the expiry of the period specified in the contract or invoice. The creditor shall have the right to benefit from the relief if the debtor is in insolvency or liquidation proceedings. The Act does not oblige the debtor to make an adjustment to the previously deducted input tax.
However, the condition must be met - bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings are pending against the debtor, which started at least in the last 150-that day after the payment date specified in the contract or invoice.
It is also worth paying attention to the change in the VAT rate to goods used for fire protection. This rate increased from 8 to 23% This amendment is the result of a judgment given by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The judges of the Court stated that Poland should apply the basic rate. This amendment is to apply from 2016
The provisions of the amended law introduced a higher guarantee bond for fuel supplies. The minimum deposit amount is set to 1,000,000 PLN to 200,000 PLN, a maximum 10,000,000 PLN to 3,000,000 PLN.