Trading or mining of cryptocurrencies is not prohibited in Poland, but cryptocurrencies do not have the status of a currency or any other financial instrument in Poland.
In Poland, cryptocurrency trading has been regulated since 2018 by the AML/CFT Act, which classifies virtual currencies as assets subject to the same rules as other funds deposited in accounts. This Act does not recognize virtual currencies as a generally accepted means of payment.
Virtual currency is also not a financial instrument. Cryptocurrency cannot be considered a security or instruments other than securities referred to in Art. 2 of the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments.
Virtual currency is not a monetary token. In art. 31 of the Act on the National Bank of Poland, we find a regulation according to which the monetary symbols of the Republic of Poland are banknotes and coins denominated in zlotys and groszes. However, pursuant to Art. 32 of the Act, coins issued by NBP are legal tender in the territory of the Republic of Poland. It should be emphasized that cryptocurrencies are not directly expressed in Polish zlotys or groszy, and are not issued by the National Bank of Poland.
Virtual currency is not a foreign currency either. As stated in Art. 2 point 1 section 7 of the Foreign Exchange Law, Polish currency is currency (banknotes and coins) which are legal tender in the country and are withdrawn from circulation but subject to exchange. However, in accordance with point 10 of the above-mentioned regulations, foreign currencies are cash (banknotes and coins) that are legal tender outside the country, as well as withdrawn from circulation, but subject to exchange; Convertible monetary units of account used in international settlements, in particular the unit of account of the International Monetary Fund (SDR), are treated on an equal footing with foreign currencies. It should be emphasized that virtual currencies, as the name suggests, are dematerialized. This means that they cannot take the physical form of a banknote or coin, which automatically excludes them from the definition of currency contained in the Foreign Exchange Law.
Virtual currencies called cryptocurrencies function however as electronic currency, and the payment system enables sending and receiving units of this currency however virtual currency systems are not regulated by law. These currencies have no central authority or any institution supervising them. Under Polish law, cryptocurrencies cannot be treated as legal tender because they do not function as a money market instrument within the meaning of separate regulations.
Similar conclusions are presented by the Ministry of Finance.
In a balance sheet, cryptocurrencies are most often treated as other assets classified as investments, usually short-term.
Invoices and payments in cryptocurrencies
Tax regulations do not exclude the possibility of issuing an invoice in a foreign currency. However, the tax authorities emphasize that cryptocurrencies are only virtual units that cannot be treated on an equal footing with foreign currencies under national law.
It is allowed to issue invoices in any currency e.g. USD but not in cryptocurrency as the National Bank of Poland does not quote cryptocurrencies. Still, the invoice can indicate the cryptocurrency in which settlement will be made and the wallet address. For tax purposes, the type of virtual currency in which payment will be made does not matter.
However, in accordance with Art. 106e section 11 of the VAT Act, tax amounts should be shown in PLN and this is a mandatory element of every invoice. Therefore, the VAT amount in USD should be converted into Polish zloty.
Cryptocurrencies can be bought, sold, received as payment or exchanged both for another virtual currency and for money that is an official means of payment.
The invoice can be settled using any cryptocurrency. The only requirement is the consent of the contractor. All details related to a given transaction are agreed between the seller and the buyer, so his vote is decisive. The applicable regulations do not prohibit such action.
Settling the payment by a Company with a cryptocurrency is a barter contract, i.e. payment for a good or service is not made in cash, but in the form of another good or service (or other goods or services). A barter agreement is an unnamed agreement whose nature is similar to an exchange agreement, and therefore, in the event of concluding a barter agreement, in practice the provisions relating to the exchange agreement apply to it, i.e. primarily Art. 603 of the Act of April 23, 1964, Civil Code, “through an exchange agreement, each party undertakes to transfer the ownership of the thing to the other party in exchange for the obligation to transfer the ownership of another thing.”
In the light of the provisions of Art. 15a section 1 and section 2 of the CIT Act – in order for tax exchange differences to arise, it is necessary for a given event to be expressed in a foreign currency and the payment to be made in a foreign currency. Failure to meet any of these conditions results in no exchange rate differences arising for corporate income tax purposes. In the light of the above regulations to create tax revenue or tax deductible costs due to exchange rate differences pursuant to Art. 15a of the Act of February 15, 1992, one of the situations listed in section. 2 or 3. Calculation used in Art. 15a section 2 or 3 of the Act, are of a closed nature (as indicated by the lack of use of phrases such as, for example: “in particular”, which means that any situation other than those described in these provisions does not result in the creation of tax revenue or tax-deductible costs due to exchange rate differences.
Read more about our Business Consulting Services