Split Vat Payment Poland

As from 1st of July 2018 new Polish VAT regulation implementing a mechanism called split payment will come into force. The mechanism of split VAT payment was introduced by the Act of 15.12.2017 on the amendment of the Act of tax on goods and services and certain other acts.

Split payment is another tool thats task is to seal the Polish VAT system. Although its use is to be voluntary, this mechanism arouses taxpayers’ anxiety.

The mechanism of split payment is based on the fact that the payment made by the buyer to the seller for the purchased services or goods is not done in one gross amount as it has been so far, but in two amounts, separately on two accounts of the seller, i.e .:

  • the amount of net receivables – to any account specified by the seller,
  • tax amount – to a dedicated account intended for the purposes of tax settlement (VAT account), while access to funds accumulated on this account will be limited.

The freedom to dispose of funds accumulated on the VAT account will be limited. By assumption, a taxpayer who has certain resources there will use them to pay his tax liability for VAT. In the case that their tax liability is lower than the amount accumulated on the VAT account, they will be able to apply to the head of the tax office for a refund of the whole or a part of this amount to a regular account with the bank. The tax authority will have as many as 60 days to issue a decision on the consent for a such refund and it will be able to decline the refund in justified cases. It will be possible to appeal against the decision mentioned above, as it is possible to appeal against any decision made by the tax authority.

The split payment mechanism will only apply to settlements between VAT taxpayers. Moreover, it is worth noting that the mechanism of split VAT payment can be used only in settlements carried out by transfers in PLN, regardless of the amount due. It will not be used for cash payments and foreign currencies.

The mechanism of split payment is not obligatory, but the legislator has provided a number of incentives to persuade taxpayers to use this form of settlement.

The introduction of a split payment mechanism will be completely new in the Polish tax on goods and services to which taxpayers will have to get used to. Despite the lack of the obligation to use it, it is the intention of the legislator to make it universal, which is to be encouraged by the system of incentives. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that there are already voices about the necessity to introduce the obligation to use the split payment mechanism, at least in relation to some types of transactions (specifically those in relation to which the reverse charge rule for domestic transactions is currently applied).

The details of the changes are available at this link: http://prawo.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20180000062/O/D20180062.pdf

Unfortunately, the content is available only in Polish.

Last updated: 12.06.2018