Question sent to the National Tax Information:
A taxpayer without a registered office in Poland, not registered for VAT in Poland, will purchase the goods from Annex 15 to the VAT Act after 01.11.2019.
The purchase will be documented by an invoice in which the total amount of receivables will be over PLN 15,000.
Is this taxpayer (buyer) obliged to apply the split payment mechanism when making payment for this invoice?
Is this taxpayer (buyer) obliged to have a bank account in Poland – kept in the Polish currency?
The answer from the National Tax Information in Poland:
The obligation to have a settlement account and a VAT account in connection with the transactions subject to the compulsory use of the split payment mechanism applies to those foreign entities that, in connection with conducting business activity in the territory of the country, will be required to settle value added tax, i.e. those entities that will obtain (or will be required to obtain) the status of “active VAT payer” in connection with the performance of activities subject to taxation.
Therefore, if a foreign entity without a registered office in Poland does not carry out activities subject to VAT within the territory of the country, it will not be subject to the provisions of Art. 108e of the VAT Act.
Summary: If foreign taxpayers do not perform taxable activities in Poland (are not VAT registered or obliged to be VAT registered in Poland), they do not have to open a bank account in Poland.