Draft regulations on mandatory electronic invoicing have been published in Poland

The government in Poland published draft legislation amending the value-added tax (VAT) law to make e-invoicing mandatory effective January 1, 2024. So, it is definitely confirmed. Obligatory e-invoicing will apply to activities that must be documented with an invoice, as required by the applicable VAT Act. Therefore, it is primarily about activities subject to VAT in Poland, including domestic deliveries of goods and the provision of services between entrepreneurs (B2B), to public authorities (B2G), but also to consumers (B2C). The public consultation will complete on the 23rd of December.

As a reminder, these invoices have the form of a file in XML format, generated in accordance with the logical structure published by the Ministry of Finance—the so-called XSD scheme. An e-invoice is issued by sending it to the KSeF, which verifies its formal correctness and, after positive validation, assigns it a unique number.

To summarize, mandatory dates are:

• January 1, 2024, is the date of the entry into force of mandatory e-invoices.
• Transition period 01/01/2022 - 31/12/2023  - voluntary use of e-Invoicing, this period has been planned as a "test" period
• 1 January 2024 - mandatory e-Invoices also for foreign entities with a fixed place of business for VAT purposes in Poland  - the obligation to exclusively use invoices in a structured form has been imposed on taxpayers with their registered office and permanent place of business in Poland.

From the fiscalization perspective, it is stated that it is expected that from 2025 the possibility of issuing invoices using cash registers would cease to be available. Moreover, cash register receipts bearing the buyer’s tax identification number up to PLN 450 would no longer be treated as invoices. Therefore, after January 1, 2025, these invoices will not be considered invoices.

Also, penalties will apply from July 1, 2024, for failures to comply with the new obligations: a fine of up to 100% of the amount of VAT shown on the invoice or a fine up to 18.7% of the total amount due shown on the invoice.