Documentation of Intra-Community deliveries in Poland as from 01.01.2020

Documentation of Intra-Community deliveries in Poland as from 01.01.2020 is now regulated not only by the Polish VAT Act. At the beginning of the year new article 45a was added to Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 282/2011 by Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1912. It is binding and directly applicable in all Member States. This article introduces rebuttable presumption for the IC delivery i.e. it lists in what situations which documents are necessary in the case of IC delivery, so that they could be considered as dispatched or transported from a Member State to a destination in other Member State. The new UE regulation refers only to the presumption which should be understood as a means of establishing the facts. It can be rebutted only by proof of the opposite so if the conditions are fulfilled, the tax office to challenge this presumption would need to have evidence the delivery did not took place.

If the seller is not able to provide the proofs listed in the art.45a of the Council Implementing Regulation, he will still be entitled to prove the IC delivery took place i.e. that the goods have been transported to another EU country. This will be done on the basis of the evidence indicated in the Polish VAT Act as it has been done till now.

Despite initial fears, it seems the introduction of rebuttable presumption for the IC delivery by the art.45 a of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1912 does not complicate the situation of the taxpayers performing intra-Community from Poland. In fact it gives more possibilities to prove the IC transactions took place.