VAT treatment of medical device repair and maintenance services after 1 April 2020

Lidia Adamek-Baczyńska
Rzeczpospolita

1 July 2020 saw entry into force of a new VAT matrix used for reduced rate purposes to classify goods in accordance with the Combined Nomenclature (CN) and services in accordance with the Polish classification PKWiU. This change continues to give rise to plenty of controversy, including as to the treatment of medical device repair and maintenance services. As doubts continue to exist due to lack of a statutory definition of “repair” and “maintenance”, the author explains how to understand those terms and addresses the issue of periodic maintenance and of additional costs of such services, being travel and accommodation of maintenance personnel and spare parts used for the service.