The Polish government has published information about some important amendments to the VAT act which will take effect mostly in 2019 and some in 2020.
New list of goods and services subject to reduced VAT rates
- Goods subject to reduced rates will be classified using CN codes instead of PKWiU. Services will still be classified with PKWiU codes. However, PKWiU 2008 will be replaced with PKWiU 2015.
- The goal of these amendments is to simplify the list of goods and services subject to reduced VAT rates.
- Certain categories of goods will enjoy lower VAT rates, including:
- e-books which will be subject to 5% rate (23% currently)
- baby food, products and accessories which will be subject to 5% rate (8% currently)
- baked goods and cookies which will be subject to 5% rate (currently 5%, 8% or 23% depending on the product)
- A new type of binding tax ruling will be introduced, the so-called Binding Rate Information. This new ruling will allow taxpayers to obtain official and binding information on the correct VAT rate applicable to their products.
- New rates will be applicable from 1 January 2020, with the exception of e-books which will enjoy the lower rate as of 1 April 2019.
VAT returns to be replaced by new SAF-T
- According to the information provided by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), in 2019 VAT returns will be replaced by a new SAF-T (JPK) structure. Consequently, taxpayers will no longer have to submit VAT-7 and VAT-7K forms and their corresponding attachments. Instead, a new SAF-T structure will provide the tax authorities with all the information included in the VAT returns.
- It is expected that the new regulations will come into force in Q3 or Q4 2019; a fixed date has not been announced yet.
Higher VAT rates will not be replaced soon
- The current VAT rates of 23% and 8% were temporarily increased in 2011 (the previous rates were 22% and 7%) with the intention to go back to the lower rates once the economic downturn is over. However, the MoF has so far not decided to go back to the previous years’ rates.
- Moreover, the MoF has just announced that the higher VAT rates of 23% and 8% will not be lowered soon and has recently published draft legislation which provides that certain economic indicators will have to be fulfilled in order to replace the current rates with the previous, lower, ones.
- Given that the economy is expected to slow down rather than speed up, it is unlikely that the lower VAT rates will be reintroduced soon.
Please contact us if you would like to learn more about the above regulations or to discuss their potential impact on your business.
Piotr Marchlewski
Tax Manager
E: pmarchlewski@asbgroup.eu
Katarzyna Łopaciuk
Tax Advisor
E: klopaciuk@asbgroup.eu