New version of the bill introducing obligatory National e-Invoicing System

5 min.

A new version of the draft act amending the Act on Goods and Services Tax and Certain Other Acts, i.e. the regulations introducing the obligatory National e-Invoice System (“KSeF”), has been published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre (Rządowe Centrum Legislacji).

The entry into force of the mandatory regulations has been postponed by six months, i.e. until 1 July 2024.

On the other hand, taxpayers who are exempt from tax (small entrepreneurs) or who only perform activities that are exempt from tax under Article 43(1) of the VAT Act or implementing regulations, will be required to use KSeF from 1 January 2025.

The new rules also apply to taxpayers that do not have a registered office or permanent establishment in Poland or with only a permanent establishment that is not involved in the transaction.

The amended bill introduces exemptions from the mandatory KSeF; from the old version of the bill mandatory e-invoicing in B2C has been excluded. Invoices cannot be issued in KSeF on an optional basis.

This solution will therefore remain optional for those taxable persons who do not have a place of business or permanent establishment in Poland or who only have a permanent establishment that is not involved in the transaction.

The obligation to issue structured invoices (“e-invoices”) will apply between businesses (B2B) and to public authorities (B2G), as well as to taxable persons:

  • who carry out activities covered by the invoicing requirement under Polish VAT regulations,
  • who have their registered office or permanent establishment in Poland (where this permanent establishment is involved in the supply of goods or services).

Invoices issued to individuals not engaged in business activity (B2C) are excluded from e-invoicing. These invoices will not be able to be issued in KSeF on an optional basis – a change from the assumptions of the previous version of the bill.

The e-invoicing obligation will not apply to taxpayers using the three special schemes.

Continuing the above, it should also be mentioned that the e-invoicing obligation will not be extended to taxpayers using the EU special schemes. Other key changes compared to the original version include the following:

  • After public consultations, the Ministry of Finance also decided to withdraw from the correction invoice proposal and the simultaneous abolition of correction notes, or the introduction of a “correction invoice proposal’, which was to be issued by the purchaser via KSeF;
  • The above means the final abandonment of the “proposal of correction invoice” and the simultaneous liquidation of correction notes;
  • Changes have been made to the regulations concerning the application of exchange rates;
  • Introduction of a procedure in case of failure on the part of the taxpayer, i.e. the “offline mode”;
  • The rules for the correction of output/input tax on correction invoices issued offline (due to the failure / unavailability of the KSeF or a failure on the part of the taxpayer) have also been clarified;
  • A rule has been introduced whereby in such cases the supplier shall reduce the taxable base and output tax in the accounting period in which he received confirmation of receipt of the corrective invoice by the purchaser;
  • Changes to the rules governing the time limit for issuing invoices before the supply of goods / services is made;
  • The new provisions even include such provisions as the implementation of a package of regulations related to the concept of introducing exclusively electronic handling of binding tariff information (BTI), binding origin information (WIP), binding excise information (WIA) or binding rate information (WIS) through the expansion of the EBTI-PL2 system and connection to the e-Tax Office system as regards WIS and to the PUESC system as regards BTI, WIP and WIA (the “e-WIS” project);
  • The buyer, in turn, is required to reduce the amount of input tax in the settlement for the period in which he received the offline corrective invoice, whereby when the date of receipt of the corrective invoice by the buyer is later than the date of assignment of the number identifying this invoice in the National e-Invoice System, the date of receipt of this invoice shall be the date of assignment of this number;
  • Maintaining the obligation to provide the KSeF ID (or collective identifier) in bank transfer orders for an invoice issued in KSeF.

In addition, the head of the tax office imposes on a taxable person who, contrary to the obligation:

  • has not issued an invoice using the National e-Invoice System,
  • issued an invoice not in compliance with the provided template;
  • did not send the invoice to the National System of e-Invoices within the deadline,

a fine of up to 100% of the amount of the tax shown on that invoice issued outside the National e-Invoice System and, in the case of an invoice without the tax shown, a fine of up to 18.7% of the total amount due shown on that invoice issued outside the National e-Invoice System.

Summarising the above, we would also like to emphasise that the mandatory implementation of KSeF is also an additional tool in the hands of the tax authorities, enabling them to see the data at the moment of issuing the invoice. Consequently, a reliable application of the so-called ‘due diligence’ rules will be key to eliminating tax risks.

Download “Newsletter No. 2 | 2023” as PDF

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Tax consultant in Poland
Piotr Gielo
Tax consultant
ECOVIS Legal Poland
+48 22 400 45 85

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This article is part of the Newsletter No. 2 | 2023.