Further work is underway on the amendment of the VAT Act with regard to the introduction of e-invoices to legal transactions. We have already reported on the ongoing consultations in this area in our blog post “New e-invoices – structured invoices and the National System of e-invoices“. E-invoices will serve to further tighten the tax system and prevent tax fraud.
E-invoicing not this year
The original bill assumed that e-invoice, which is a structured invoice, as one of the permitted forms of documenting transactions alongside paper invoices and electronic invoices in PDF format, would be able to be used voluntarily by taxpayers from 1st of October 2021. The new bill assumes that the new provisions will come into force from 1st of January 2022. At the same time, along with the draft amendment act, there appeared a draft regulation of the Minister of Finance, Funds and Regional Policy on the use of the national e-invoice system, which sets out the types of rights to use the National e-invoice system, the way of granting and receiving them, the way of authenticating entities using the system and the data of a structured invoice.
Changes after consultation with entrepreneurs
The new bill changes the definition of a structured invoice. A structured invoice will not be considered a type of electronic invoice and the rules regarding electronic invoices will not apply to it. Under the new bill definition, a structured invoice will be an invoice issued by the national e-invoice system with an allocated number identifying the invoice in the system. The issue date of issuing and receiving a structured invoice has also been clarified. According to the draft, the date of issuance of the structured invoice will be the date on which it was sent to the national system of e-invoices, and the date of its receipt by the buyer will be the date on which the number identifying the invoice was assigned by the national system of e-invoices, unless the buyer does not agree to receive structured invoices. In such case, general rules shall apply.
It is worth looking at the changes now
Although e-invoicing is initially to be voluntary, the Ministry of Finance plans to make it a mandatory method of transaction reporting from 2023. The taxpayers should already take into account the need to incur additional costs related to adapting their systems to issue invoices or other administrative duties.
Working structure of the e-invoice
The Ministry of Finance has published a draft version of the logical structure of the e-invoice in order to enable the adaptation of IT systems to the projected changes along with the documentation to the structure in English as supporting instruction. The documents can be accessed on the website of the Ministry of Finance at https://www.gov.pl/web/kas/krajowy-system-e-faktur.
The e-invoice system may be a revolutionary change not only for domestic taxpayers, but also for foreign entities. If you need support in the subject of e-invoices or adjusting your IT systems to the requirements of the new regulations, we encourage you to contact the tax department of our law firm.
Author:
Aleksandra Philips, LL.B., VAT Specialist