VAT registration in Poland – is it mandatory for our company?

Please analyze operations of a Switzerland established company in Poland and determine if the VAT registration in Poland is mandatory.

Answer: We have analyzed the data you provided and determined the Company should establish Fiscal Representative in Poland (unless it has established his business or has a fixed establishment on EU territory). The obligation to register to VAT in Poland is connected to the fact the Company will perform IC supplies of goods (to Italy).
The input VAT charged by Polish supplier will be recoverable in the VAT return.
To summarise to business model seems to be as follows:
1. Swiss company registers to VAT in Poland
2. Swiss company buys goods from Polish suppliers and includes those transactions in Polish VAT return – input VAT from those purchases will be recoverable in Polish VAT return
3. Swiss company makes IC supplies to Italy and includes those transactions in Polish VAT return – (to apply 0% VAT the client and supplier has to be register to VAT UE).
We would need to know also:
1. Is the Italian client VAT EU registered?
2. Is the VAT registration enough for the Swiss company or do they want to have permanent establishment in Poland as well?
Intertax can provide services for you. Our remuneration would be charged as a lump sum for monthly fiscal representation and VAT compliance.

International VAT number in Poland

Once you have registered your business in the Republic of Poland, you are assigned, for identification purposes with different authorities, NIP and REGON numbers.

NIP („numer identyfikacji podatkowej” – tax indentification number) comprises of ten numbers in an unique combination and identifies you when dealing with the tax authority – it is also the one on the basis of which you are entitled to receive your VAT-EU (international VAT) number.

More information about VAT number in Poland: https://polishtax.com/vat-number-in-poland-brief-introduction/

As an aside, it is important to remember that you will be assigned a NIP number without any additional steps only if you start a one person business (are self-employed); otherwise, you need to apply to the tax authority in order to obtain you tax identification number.

Your VAT-EU number is simple enough: the prefix PL to identify the country of origin followed by the entirety of your NIP number, without any spaces, dashes, or dots. Written out properly, it would look like this:

PL0123456789

It is extremely important to remember, however, that you cannot just write „PL” in front of your domestic tax identification number by yourself and start cross-border economic activity. While it is considered only a formality, you must apply to the tax authorities (via the VAT-R form, in which you declare the intention to commence cross-border activity) and wait until you receive the VAT-EU number before you start intra-Community trade or services.

The wait lasts two weeks on average, up to a month at worst – plan your economic activities accordingly. Take into account the fact that there is a legal fee (currently set at 170 PLN) that the authorities charge for issuing a VAT-EU number to active VAT taxpayers.

Who needs a VAT-EU number?

If you are an active Value Added Tax taxpayer and make intra-Community acquisitions or sales, you need this number. You will also need it if you export or import services or if the sum total of your intra-Community acquisitions exceeds 50.000 PLN in value within one tax year, even if you are not an active VAT payer.