On the 20th of May 2021 the Polish Parliament (Sejm) passed an important amendment to the Polish VAT Act. The changes concern e-commerce package which should come into force on the 1st of July 2021 however, the legislation process is not yet completed.
As the Ministry of Finance explained the solutions included in the e-commerce package will facilitate the settlement of VAT on the sale of goods and services to clients in other EU Member States. In addition, they will certainly improve the competitiveness of both EU and Polish entrepreneurs in relation to those from outside the EU.
Regarding the distance sellers outside the European Union they will also benefit from the new solutions using mostly IOSS procedure under which goods are dispatched or transported from a third country to the European Union countries. Also in certain cases they will use also OSS procedure. IOSS procedure will require registration in one of the EU countries, in the so-called country of identification. The country of identification will be determined in accordance with Art. 369l point 3 of Council Directive (EU) 2017/2455 of 5 December 2017 amending Directive 2006/112 / EC and Directive 2009/132 / EC i.e. it will be the EU country in which he chooses to register. This means non-EU sellers can choose e.g. Poland to register to IOSS and they will submit VAT returns containing information on the whole distance sales in the territory of the EU in Poland. The Member State of identification will then transmit these returns, along with the VAT amount paid, to the relevant Member States of consumption via the secure communication network.
IOSS requires appointing an intermediary in the chosen identification country, who will be liable to pay the VAT and handle the obligations set out in this special procedure on behalf of the seller.
The import procedures may be used when:
• the goods are dispatched / transported from a third territory or a third country at the stage of delivery, and
• these goods are shipped in a parcel with an actual value not exceeding EUR 150 and
• the goods are transported or dispatched by or on behalf of the supplier, including where the supplier is involved indirectly in the transport or dispatch of goods from a third country or third territory to the buyer or any other authorized person in a Member State, and
• the goods are not subject to EU harmonized excise duty (usually alcoholic or tobacco products according to Article 2 (3) of the VAT Directive). Note that the one-stop-shop for import cannot be used when low value goods are purchased or shipped with the excise goods, whether or not the shipment value is above EUR 150.
The actual value is determined as follows:
(a) for goods of a commercial nature: the price of the goods themselves sold for export to the customs territory of the European Union, excluding transport and insurance costs, unless included in the price and not separately invoiced, and excluding any other taxes and fees that may be established by the customs authorities on the basis of the relevant documents;
(b) in the case of non-commercial goods: the price that would have been paid for the goods themselves if they had been sold for export to the customs territory of the European Union.
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