There are serious doubts regarding the necessity to open a bank account in Poland by foreign taxpayers in connection to split payment. There may be situations that non PL business, not registered for VAT in Poland will buy goods listed in the Annex 15 to the VAT Act in Poland. They will be charged with Polish VAT if the place of taxation is Poland. The subsequent sale to a Polish customer will not raise obligation for this taxpayer to register for VAT in Poland. Is it possible that this taxpayer will be still required to open a bank account in Poland and to make payment using split payment mechanism?
We sent to the Polish National Revenue Information an email describing such situation with corresponding questions:
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 exceed 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 settlement account referred to in art. 49 paragraph 1 point 1 of the Act of August 29, 1997 – Banking Law, or a personal account in a cooperative savings and credit union opened in connection with business operations, kept in the Polish currency?
The Polish National Revenue Information did not answer to the questions. We have been informed that the issue is currently being analyzed in order to form a standpoint in this respect. Therefore, the answer will be given at a later date.
Taking into consideration the lack of clear answer, the issue is not obvious and till now no one knows what will be the consequences of the new legislation for the foreign taxpayers.
As soon as we have a precise answer we will post it on Intertax website.