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In 2017, the following taxpayers will have the duty to file returns in electronic form:

1) obliged to be registered as VAT EU taxpayer;

2) suppliers of goods or services to whom the taxpayer is the buyer pursuant to Art. 17 subparagraph 1 point 7 and 8 of the VAT Act, or the buyer of these goods or services;

3) obliged, pursuant to Art. 45ba of the 26^th July 1991 Personal Income Tax or  Art. 27 subparagraph 1c of the 15^th  February 1992 Corporate Income Tax to  file returns, information and annual calculation of tax with the use of electronic  means of communication.

Others than the abovementioned taxpayers shall become obliged to file most VAT returns with the help of electronic means only from 1^st January 2018.

From 1^st January 2017, the summary information on intercommunity transactions carried out and the summary information on domestic turnover will have to be filed with the use of electronic means of communication. Exclusively, in electronic form shall be submitted also corrections of this information.  The right to file summary information on intracommunity transactions carried out for quarterly periods has been done away with. 

Only small taxpayers will have the right to file quarterly returns. But, this right shall not apply to newly established entities for a period of 12 months, starting from the month in which they registered as active VAT  taxpayers. Additionally, for 12 subsequent months (counting from the day of VAT registration) small taxpayers registered for VAT after 30^th September 2016 shall not have the right to file quarterly returns. These entities, starting from the returns for January 2017 shall file VAT-7 returns. In this scope, there is no duty to file VAT-R updating.

Additionally, from 1^st January  2017, the taxpayers which/who in a given quarter or in the preceding four quarters delivered goods, set out in Attachment No 13 to the VAT Act shall not have the right to file quarterly returns unless the total value of these supplies without tax amount has not exceeded in any month or any period an amount of  PLN 50,000. Thus, it will have no importance whether the value of the supplies exceeded the amount corresponding to 1% of taxpayers’ sale value without the amount of tax.

The possibility to prolong  the deadline to return the tax difference (for a period not longer than 3 months) is provided for in the case a justified request is filed by the Chief of the Police, the Head of the Central Anticorruption Bureau, the Chief of the Internal Security Agency or the Attorney General in consequence of legal proceedings being run.

The return of the tax difference will be possible within 25 days only when:

1) the receivables, arising from invoices, documenting the purchased goods and services were paid through the taxpayer’s account in a bank or in a cooperative savings and credit bank, and the taxpayer presented documents to confirm this payment,

2) the total amount of receivables, resulting from the remaining invoices (not settled through  a bank or  a cooperative savings and credit bank) does not exceed PLN 15,000,

3) the amount of input tax or tax difference unsettled in earlier settlement periods and recognized in the return does not exceed PLN 3,000.

4) the taxpayer filed in the Tax Office, the documents, which confirm the payment of tax through the taxpayer’s account in a bank or in a cooperative savings and credit bank,

5) for another 12 months, preceding the period, for whose settlement the taxpayer demands  refund in an accelerated time, the taxpayer was registered as a VAT active payer and filed timely VAT declarations.

Striking off the VAT payers from the relevant register will be possible without undertaking any verifying operations and – additionally – when the data given in the application for registration are untrue, and if the entity or their agent does not turn up for the summons of tax authority or tax inspection authority.

In addition, Article 96 subparagraph 9a was added to the VAT Act setting out five new cases in which taxpayers will be struck off from the VAT taxpayers register ex officio. This will apply to entities that:

1) suspended carrying out their business pursuant to the provisions on freedom of establishment for a period of at least 6 months  (subject to Art. 96 subparagraph 9b and 9c of the VAT Act provides a possibility to report with a Head of the Revenue Office a longer period of suspension of business.

In such cases, the Head of the Revenue Office shall not strike off the taxpayer from the register or return its registration for a period indicated in the notification. In such a case, the taxpayer shall be registered again without any necessity to report any registration request on the day when the business activities are reopened with such a status as it had at the moment of suspension,

2) obliged to file VAT-7/VAT-7K returns, have not filed such returns for 6 subsequent monts or 2 subsequent quarters (unless as a result of summoning by the Head of the Revenue Office, the taxpayer proves that it runs business to be taxed or files the return immediately (Art. 96 subparagraph 9d of the VAT Act),or

3) filed for 6 subsequent months or 2 subsequent quarters VAT-7/VAT-7K returns, in which they indicated no sale or purchase with amounts of tax to be discounted  (unless the failure to show sales or purchases arises, in accordance with the explanations of the taxpayer, from the specificity of the business run – Art. 96 subparagraph 9e of the VAT Act,

4) issued invoices or corrected invoices which did not document the real operations or else, so called „empty invoices” (unless, issuance of such invoices was the result of  an error or took place without the taxpayers knowledge ( Art. 96 subparagraph 9f of the VAT Act),

5) running business, they knew  or had justified reasons to suspect, that they participated in the procedure of fraud or tax law breach with the purpose to gain undue material benefits to the detriment of the State budget

The addition of provisions to set out the principles of restoring the registration of the taxpayer will accompany this with no necessity to file registration application (see Art. 96 subparagraph 9h and 9i of the VAT Act added on  1^st January 2017).

On  1^st January 2017, Art. 96 subparagraph  10a of the VAT Act will be added –  this provision will facilitate cancelling from the register of VAT taxpayers, the  active taxpayers who/which carry out exclusively tax-released operations, with a simultaneous leaving them in the register with the status of VAT released taxpayers in the situation when those taxpayers indicate in their tax returns for 6 subsequent months or 2 subsequent quarters, exclusively  tax-released sale pursuant to Art. 43 of the VAT Act, but have not filed in the Revenue Office the relevant application to update the data.

The above shall not relate to the situation when it results from the explanations filed by the taxpayer, that the  failure to show in the returns the sales other than that tax-released  pursuant to Art. 43 of the VAT Act is related to the specificity of the business run and not to abandoning the carrying out of sale other than tax-released (see Art. 96 subparagraph 10b of the VAT Act added as on 1^st January 2017). In such a case, it will be possible also to restore the registration of the taxpayer as an active VAT taxpayer , with no necessity to submit the application  (see; Art. 96 subparagraph 10c of the VAT Act added as on 1^st January 2017).

The right to deduct – as amounts of input tax – the amounts of output tax, which were not recognized in the relevant VAT return, is to function backwards only when the amount of output tax is recognized in the relevant VAT return within three months from the end of the month, in which tax liability arose in relation to the purchased goods and services. In the case of subsequent recognition of the abovementioned output tax amounts  in the relevant VAT return, the right to deduct the input tax on these amounts will arise currently (i.e. in the settlement for the current period of time with reference to which the deadline to submit the tax return has not expired).

The Act repeals Article 43 subparagraph 13 of the VAT Act and Art. 43 subparagraph 14 referring thereto. As an exception, this change is to come into force on 1st July 2017. (Not 1st January 2017.

Another extension refers to the list of goods in Attachment 11 to the VAT Act – in addition will be subject to tax by the reverse charge mechanism the following: silver, gold and platinum – unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form; silver, clad with gold, processed not further than semi-jewellery and its parts and other jewellery and its parts, of gold of hallmarked below 325 thousandths and silver clad with precious metal -exclusively pieces of jewellery and other parts of gold jewels of the above hallmark and silver, i.e. unfinished or incomplete jewellery and distinct pieces of jewellery, including coated or clad with precious metal; processors, provided that it shall only apply to supplies carried out after exceeding the limit of PLN 20,000 net.

Since 1^st January, 2017, a majority of construction works (classified on the basis of PKWiU2008 (Polish Standard Classification of Economic Activities) used for tax purposes, in groupings 41-43) will be covered by reverse charge mechanism. The new catalogue of services covered by the reverse charge mechanism will be given in Annex 14 to the VAT Act.

The application of the reverse charge mechanism to new services covered by this mechanism will depend on an additional condition, i.e. the provider of these services will have to act as a subcontractor. In the case when the taxpayer is the main contractor of these services, the reverse charge mechanism will not be applied.

The entities, whose turnover value in the previous year did not exceed PLN 200,000 (or its equivalent fixed pro rata to the period of the taxpayer’s activities, if they started up business in the course of the year) may benefit from tax exemption under Article 113 of the VAT Act. In the previous years, the threshold amounted to PLN 150,000.

The current rates will be in force for a further 2 years.