A comparison of the results of the tax audit conducted in the period of the third quarters of 2015 relative to the third quarters of 2016 shows its increasing effectiveness over time. Reviewing the data on tax audit results in previous years, it is currently the most effective it has been in years. Between the third quarter of 2015 and 2016, the difference is enormous: i.e. less than 870,000,000 PLN compared to over 1,500,000,000 PLN.
one one of the biggest problems nowadays, regarding VAT settlements, is the phenomenon of VAT carousels. Tax carousels are difficult to detect because, as a rule, several or even a dozen or more entities are involved. Often, entities unaware of anything participate in these dishonest transactions.
A tax carousel consists of the failure to pay VAT associated with transactions concluded by dishonest entities, the result of which is the emergence of VAT arrears for honest taxpayers who have unwittingly become victims of a given tax carousel.
The main tools of the auditors are, above all, the general anti-avoidance rule introduced into the Polish tax system, the reform of the tax administration, i.e. the entry into force of the Act on the National Revenue Administration, the challenging of the effects of transactions on the basis of Article 199a Tax Ordinance, and Article 11 of the CIT Act.
The greatest risk concerns taxpayers operating in industries generating high turnovers. These are primarily the fuel, electronics, metals, plastics, automotive, construction, and IT industries.
It very often happens that the problem of tax carousels affects the largest enterprises, operating for a long period, including those listed on the stock exchange. This clearly demonstrates that even large entrepreneurs, possessing extensive internal procedures to avoid cooperation with dishonest counterparties, become their victims and unknowingly participate in the illegal VAT carousel scheme.