The possibility of issuing simplified invoices (so-called receipt with TIN) was introduced in 2013 and since then many taxpayers' doubts have grown around them. Recent changes to regulations and growing doubts as to their application have prompted the Minister of Finance (MF) to issue on 20 October 2020 tax clarifications in this regard.
A simplified invoice may be issued for transactions provided that the sale value does not exceed PLN 450 or EUR 100 gross. Its simplified form is based on a smaller number of obligatory elements which must be presented on it. Due to this fact, a cash register receipt may be a simplified invoice, however, it must contain additional information about the buyer's VAT TIN.
The MF explanations responded to a number of problems:
1.Issue of an invoice on the basis of a cash register receipt
The taxpayers' doubts concerned, among other things, whether a simplified invoice can be the basis for issuing a standard invoice. MF indicated that if the sales value does not exceed PLN 450 or EUR 100 gross, and the buyer's VAT TIN is indicated on the receipt, the document should be regarded as a simplified invoice and it is not possible to issue another invoice on its’ basis (in fact, one sale would then be documented by two invoices). A buyer wishing to receive a standard invoice in such a situation should inform the seller about it before registering the sale at the cash register.
2. Collective invoice
Due to the fact that cash register receipts bearing buyer's VAT TIN are by themselves invoices, it is not possible to issue a collective invoice based on them. The general rules on standard invoices apply to collective invoices, so an attempt to issue a collective invoice for sales documented by simplified invoices would lead to double invoicing of one economic event.
At the same time, as indicated by MF, if sales value exceeds PLN 450 or EUR 100 gross and has been documented by a receipt containing buyer's TIN, such a document, as not being a simplified invoice, may be the basis for issuing a collective invoice.
3. Invoice number on a cash register receipt being simplified invoice
MF indicated that for cash register receipts being simplified invoices obligatory element of "a sequential number assigned in one or more series which uniquely identifies the invoice" is the receipt number together with the unique cash register number it was issued with.
4. Possible adjustment to the VAT ID on the cash register receipt
MF has allowed adjustments to be made to the buyer's TIN on a simplified invoice that is a cash register receipt by issuing a corrective note to it, but this is only possible in the case of an unintentional error in the buyer's TIN indicating an obvious mistake. Such an obvious mistake may be the absence of a single digit, a rearrangement of digits, or a single-digit error. This is an open catalog of errors.
The possibility of replacing one taxpayer's VAT TIN presented on the receipt with VAT TIN of another taxpayer or filling in missing VAT TIN in an empty space by an adjustment was simply excluded. MF argues that a receipt without a VAT TIN entered on it cannot be considered a simplified invoice and therefore cannot be subject to adjustment.
5. Simplified invoice and new SAF-T (JPK_VAT)
By the end of 2020, there will still be a convenience, consisting in the fact that simplified invoices will not be registered separately in JPK_VAT if they are correctly registered in aggregate information from the sales register using the cash register.
This solution, which is beneficial for taxpayers, will come to an end, and, from 1 January 2021, cash register receipts being simplified invoices will be required to be registered separately in JPK_VAT.
Source: Minister of Finance tax explanations of 16 October 2020 - Cash register receipts considered as simplified invoices
Jarosław Szajkowski
Tax Manager - Tax Adviser
E: jszajkowski@asbgroup.eu