How is it now?
As of October 1, 2020, the new electronic structure of SAF-T with declaration became effective for VAT taxpayers. The tax obligation provides for electronic submission of VAT settlements in one file, which simultaneously includes two structures – the declaration and the record parts. It means that a taxpayer who is correcting VAT settlement – at the same time, within the framework of one conduct, may file a correction only of the recording part or only of the declaration part, or the recording and declaration parts jointly.
In connection with the change of the manner of VAT reporting, the legislator has also added new regulations to the Penal Fiscal Code Act (hereinafter: “PFC”). Article 61a of the PFC, which was added, brought about quite a revolution approach because it meant that corrections related to the recording part of SAF-T with declaration files were made punishable by a fine. This results from the fact that in the light of the regulations it constitutes a tax ledger, and a tax ledger maintained in a defective manner is subject to a penalty pursuant to article 61a of the PFC. Corrections submitted both in terms of the record and the declaration part should be interpreted in a similar way. A correction covering only the declarative part does not require filing a voluntary disclosure to avoid a financial penalty, as only such a situation is covered by the scope of regulation of article 16a of the PFC, in the wording currently in force, before January 1, 2022).
Therefore, the lack of consistency in the consequences of non-criminalisation of declarations and records, arising from article 16a of the PFC, has been the subject of numerous doubts.
How should it be?
In the act signed by the Polish President on October 29, 2021, amending the act on personal income tax, the act on corporate income tax, and some other acts, the so-called “The Polish Deal”, were included also in article 11 the amendments to the provisions of the PFC, including article 16a PFC.
The amendment to § 1, article 16a of the PFC is aimed at eliminating the problem discussed above and at leveling the effects of impunity in relation to corrections of VAT returns and records, which taxpayers are entitled or obliged to submit pursuant to the tax act.
Therefore, the purpose of the amendment is to extend the subject matter of the regulation to acts related to the submission of corrections to VAT records. The amendment allows to obtain system consistency of the provision in relation to the tax obligation, referred to article 109 paragraph 3b and 3c of the Polish VAT Act, sending VAT records together with the return, both for taxpayers settling VAT monthly and quarterly by electronic means.
In other words, this means that from January 1, 2022, in general, it will no be longer necessary to submit a voluntary disclosure in the event of submitting a correction:
- to the record part OR
- declaration together with the record part
of the SAF-T with declaration file.
For example:
In April 2022, a taxpayer by the mistake did not report a sales invoice in the record part of the SAF-T with the declaration, therefore leading to an understatement of the amount of output tax. In the case of submitting a legally effective correction of the declaration and record part, in general, a taxpayer will not be longer need to submit a voluntary disclosure.
If you are interested in the topic, please contact our tax experts:
Anna Szafraniec
CEE VAT Compliance Director
E: aszafraniec@asbgroup.eu
Łukasz Woźniak
VAT Compliance Manager
E: lwozniak@asbgroup.eu
