Source Gazeta Prawna
Unofficial translation
Tax sanctions will not include credit card payments or online transactions carried out by electronic intermediaries such as Blue Media or PayPal.
owever, the payment to the virtual account will be treated as if it had been transferred to the basic account.
The Minister of Finance issued on December 23 this year. long-awaited tax explanations for VAT whitelist regulations. He did it on the basis of art. 14a parish 1 point 2 of the Tax Code, so entrepreneurs who comply with the explanations will be protected from any negative fiscal consequences.
These are sanctions coming into effect from 1 January 2020 for payment to an account not on the white VAT list. The white list itself, i.e. the electronic list of active taxpayers, has been in force since September 2019 (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 1018). It includes, among others numbers of bank accounts and name accounts kept at cooperative savings and credit unions, which entrepreneurs provided to tax offices in registration applications.
From January 1, 2020, any payment resulting from transactions with a value above 15,000 PLN should go to one of these registered accounts. Otherwise, the buyer will not include the expense as tax deductible costs (in PIT or CIT) and will additionally be jointly and severally liable with the supplier for unsettled VAT for the transaction.
The explanations are not enough and the regulations need to be changed
The explanations are controversial and in some cases have no legal basis . An example would be the issue of cession bills. The minister explains that after receiving information about the transfer from the bank to such an account, you will not have to send a notification to the tax office. However, it is difficult to imagine a reasonable financial director who will not send such notice. In the case of tax audits in a few years, the content of explanations alone may not be sufficient, even despite the reservation that compliance with them will protect against negative consequences.
The factoring answers are also controversial, because the factors do not report the bills related to this service to the tax office. The taxpayer will therefore be obliged to submit a payment notification to an account that is not on the white list.
There are more such problems and we all expected the provisions to be clarified by amendment. It now remains to wait for January 1 to see how tedious they will prove to be in practice.
Not everyone abroad
From the beginning, the regulations on the white list raise many doubts, as reported in DGP. We pointed out, among others on the consequences for taxpayers buying online and cooperating with foreign entities.
The explanations of the Ministry of Finance show that before buying a good or service from a foreign company, an entrepreneur must first check its tax status. If the contractor uses, e.g. German NIP (Tax Identification Number) and supplies goods within the Community or services are imported to the territory of Poland, the provisions on the white list will not be applied.
– The situation in which such a supplier may have an account with a Polish bank due to the fact that it has been registered for other purposes or other transactions is not important here – the Minister of Finance stressed.
On the other hand, the regulations on the white list apply if a foreign entrepreneur performs transactions taxed in our country. This means that if for some reason he does not set up a bank or name account in SKOK in Poland, payment to his foreign account may have consequences for the Polish buyer.
In general, foreign bank account numbers are provided in registration applications to the tax office. So if a Polish entrepreneur pays more than 15,000 to a foreign account PLN, he should submit a payment notification to the tax office competent for the contractor.
Virtual accounts
The minister confirmed that virtual accounts (sub-accounts assigned to individual clients of a given service provider, e.g. media suppliers) will not be included in the white list. However, the buyer who enters their number in the list will receive information whether they are associated with the correct billing account of the company. The payment will be treated as if it went to a basic account. Tax sanctions will not be applied.
See also:
Credit cards and e-commerce
The explanations show that, contrary to previous concerns, the sanctions will not cover credit card payments or online transactions carried out by electronic intermediaries such as Blue Media or PayPal. The minister referred to the Act on payment services of 19 August 2011 (i.e. Journal of Laws of 2019, item 659, as amended) and explained that such payments cannot be treated as classic bank transfers.
Bailiffs, insurers and factors
The sanctions will also not apply to payments to the court bailiff or other enforcement body, because they do not constitute payment for goods or services – assured the minister. A similar situation will apply to payments made by insurers to third parties liquidating damages, where the payment constitutes the implementation of liability for damages towards the insured or beneficiaries – it follows from the explanations.
The provisions on sanctions will instead apply to payments to the accounts of factoring companies, if they do not appear on the list. A taxpayer who pays a factor to an account not on the white list should therefore inform the competent tax office. Otherwise, he will not avoid sanctions.
Assignment bills
Another problem concerns the own economy and cession accounts. These are accounts that banks and credit unions use for settlements related to the purchase of goods or services, assignment of receivables, financial or factoring services that provide or collaterals timely repayment of loans. On the one hand, the numbers of these accounts are indicated on invoices issued by banks or credit unions, on the other, however, they are not settlement accounts within the meaning of Art. 49 of the Banking Law (i.e. Journal of Laws of 2019, item 2357, as amended), so they will not go on the white list. In addition, these accounts are often opened and closed for a specific transaction. They have never been reported to the tax authorities.
The minister considered that it would be a disproportionate burden to include them on the white list and sanctions. In the explanations, however, he explained that the bank or credit unions will have to “properly” inform the client that he pays to his own account or cession. Otherwise, the taxpayer will have to presume that this is a regular account to which the whitelist provisions apply.
Deposit and fiduciary
Payments to trust and deposit accounts also raised doubts, which are assumed to reduce the risk of default. By stopping the payment on the trust account, both parties are guaranteed that the contract will be completed on time and in accordance with the agreed conditions. Only after its implementation the funds from the account are unblocked and they reach the seller.
The explanations show that if such a payment is confirmed by an invoice by an active VAT taxpayer, the purchaser must notify the competent tax office about the payment to such an account to avoid sanctions.
Other problems
The minister explained that with deferred payment or standing orders entrepreneurs should verify that the account is on the white list only on the day on which they submit a transfer order with a deferred payment date or a standing order. It does not matter, however, for what period payments have been deferred or what period is covered by the standing order.
Entrepreneurs who make advance payments must determine the value of the entire transaction to which the payment relates. If it exceeds 15,000 PLN, this payment must be paid by bank transfer to an account on the white list.
The explanations show that tax sanctions will also apply to deductions of claims by entrepreneurs, if the value of the entire claim before deduction exceeds PLN 15,000. zł.
Example
Entrepreneur X is guilty of entrepreneur Y 18,000 PLN for the purchase of building materials and received an invoice for this amount. At the same time, Y is guilty of X 12 thousand. PLN for the renovation he made. The parties have agreed that they will set off the debt. X will pay Y 6,000 zł.
In this situation, the surcharge must go to an account on the white list, because the value of the entire transaction before deduction is 18 thousand. PLN – emphasized the minister.
