Natalia Błażejewska
Puls Biznesu
A new transaction type called intra-Community distance sales of goods (ICDS) was introduced in Polish law with effect from 1 July 2021 as part of the VAT E-Commerce Package. While ICDS replaces the earlier distance sales regime, it does mean that the taxation and recordkeeping rules apply automatically, especially in relation to VAT cash registers. The position among tax authorities was that the old distance sales did not require use of cash registers. The definition of sales did not change as of 1 July 2021 and just as it did not include distance sales before, it does not include ICDS now. However, in accordance with the Finance Minister’s official tax guidance of 1 September 2021 related to the VAT E-Commerce Package, an ICDS that is subject to tax in Poland – as certain other conditions are satisfied – must generally be recorded using a VAT cash register. With that said, the law offers some exemptions here. Pursuant to the Finance Minister regulation of 22 December 2021 on the exemptions from the requirement of using VAT cash registers for recordkeeping purposes, there is an exemption until the end of 2023 from having to use cash registers for ICDS transactions that are accounted for pursuant to the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) regime. That does not mean that every non-OSS ICDS transaction will always have to be recorded using a cash register. As was the case with distance sales before, the cash register requirement will not apply to ICDS transactions by foreign entities which have not established their business in Poland and have no fixed establishments there.