E-Invoicing and SAF-T in Poland

In Poland, a central e-invoice system is to be introduced from 2022 to enable B2G and B2B invoices to be exchanged digitally. In the B2B sector in particular, a voluntary test phase for electronic invoices will begin on 1.1.2022. One year later, from 1.1.2023, e-invoicing for B2B transactions is to become mandatory for all companies in Poland.

The most advanced country in terms of SAF-T is now Poland. First introduced there in 2016, the format for large taxpayers has evolved significantly over the past few years. As of October 1, 2020, all taxpayers must file the JPK_V7M/K. This replaces the previous JPK_VAT and periodic sales tax returns. The new requirement includes a declaration section that corresponds to the defunct sales tax return and a recordkeeping section that corresponds to the defunct JPK_VAT.

The biggest change for taxpayers who previously filed JPK_VAT is the introduction of commodity codes (also known as GTUs). Taxpayers must now mark certain fraud-prone transactions with appropriate GTU codes on invoices. In addition, the Polish government requires that certain other transactions be marked with invoice codes, including transactions between related parties and split payment transactions.

This makes Poland the first country to completely replace the VAT return with a SAF-T file. Other countries will thus note whether these requirements reduce tax fraud and narrow the VAT gap.

The new rules of the EU e-commerce package have recently been incorporated into the VAT legislation in Poland. At the same time, new obligations are imposed on imports, reporting, and marketplaces. These new measures are intended to make fraud more difficult and tax reporting more efficient.

These established regulations are scheduled to enter into force on July 1, 2021, and have thus been delayed by 6 months due to the Corona pandemic, as the original deadline was set for January 1, 2021.

Specifically, the new measures include:

• The elimination of the €22 VAT exemption for low-value shipments of goods.
• Instead, sellers and marketplaces will have to charge VAT on sales that do not exceed a value of €150
• Abolition of thresholds for B2C distance sales
• Introduction of an EU-wide standardized VAT return called One Stop Shop (OSS), which is an extension of the existing MOSS return
• Introduction of an EU-wide threshold of €10,000 for the mandatory calculation of local VAT on B2C sales