On 24 May 2019 the President signed amendments to the CIT, PIT and VAT Acts modifying the rules relating to the register of VAT taxpayers, or the so-called “white list” of taxpayers. These amendments mean that the Ministry of Finance will update the register daily and include information on taxpayers’ bank accounts opened in connection with their business activity.
The information included in the “white list” register will impact all parties engaged in transactions with registered VAT taxpayers for several reasons, as follows:
- Payments made outside of the bank account system or to a bank account not included in the register cannot be treated as tax-deductible for corporate and personal income tax purposes;
- If a taxpayer, acting as an intermediary or broker, is contractually obliged to obtain settlement from a purchaser and then to remit this amount to the supplier and the payment is made to the supplier’s bank account which is not listed on the register, additional taxable revenue will be assessed on the intermediary in the amount of the payment received;
- Taxpayers making payments to non-registered bank accounts face an additional potential tax liability. A purchaser making a payment to a non-registered account becomes jointly liable with the seller for any arrears arising on the seller’s output VAT (together with interest on such arrears);
The restrictions related to non-deductibility and assessment of additional taxable revenue will not apply if the taxpayer making the payment submits a notification to the tax authorities within 3 days from the date of making the bank transfer that he has made the payment to a non-listed bank account;
The regulations apply to all payments:
- exceeding PLN 15 000;
- made as of the tax year beginning after 31 December 2019, that is, starting from 1 January 2020 for companies whose tax year is concurrent with the calendar year.
The above changes affect all companies purchasing goods and services from registered VAT taxpayers.
Problems may arise if the buyer is unaware whether its counterparty’s bank account is listed in the register of taxpayers, because the period of notifying the authorities of payment to a non-listed bank account is short and the tax office may assess tax arrears if notification is not made within the deadline. This means that companies will need to regularly verify their suppliers to check that their bank accounts are listed in the register.
How ASB can assist you?
ASB has developed a unique application called “VAT Validator” which allows taxpayers to confirm that their suppliers are registered for VAT in Poland or EU (more information here). We are extending the functionality of this application to include verification of suppliers’ bank accounts as well.
If you have questions, please contact our specialists:
Matthew O`Shaughnessy
Head of Tax
E: moshaughnessy@asbgroup.eu
Łukasz Bączyk
Tax Director
E: lbaczyk@asbgroup.eu
Rafał Wienconek
Senior Tax Consultant - Tax Adviser
E: rwienconek@asbgroup.eu
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