SLIM VAT 2 - selected changes

In accordance with the intention of the legislator, these changes are to reduce the number of obligations imposed on taxpayers and facilitate the use of the provisions. Some of the adopted changes are presented below.

Bad debt relief

The amendment provides for significant changes in relation to the bad debt relief (Article 89a of the VAT Act), which boils down to reducing the conditions that had to be met so far for the taxpayer to be entitled to use it, i.e. the requirement to deliver goods / providing services to a taxpayer registered as an active VAT taxpayer who is not in the process of restructuring, bankruptcy or liquidation. At the same time, the condition that the debtor should remain a registered active VAT taxpayer and was not in the process of restructuring, bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings on the day preceding the submission of the correction of the declaration by the creditor was waived..

Moreover, under certain conditions, the creditor may benefit from bad debt relief in relation to buyers who are consumers and VAT exempt taxpayers.

The deadline for using the tax relief in question was also extended from two to three years from the date of issuing the invoice documenting the claim, counting from the end of the year in which it was issued.

Determining the place of mobile delivery in chain transactions when exporting goods or intra-Community supply of goods, when the first or last entity arranges transport or shipment

When the entity arranging shipment or transport in a chain transaction is the first supplier (i.e. the first entity in the chain), the shipment or transport is assigned to its delivery. If, on the other hand, the shipment or transport of the goods is arranged by the last buyer, such shipment or transport is assigned to the delivery made to that buyer.

Regulating the method of making in-minus corrections in the case of importing services and intra-Community acquisition of goods

The correction should be made "on an ongoing basis" in the tax declaration for the month in which the reason for the reduction of the tax base occurred (regardless of the moment / period in which the correcting invoice was received), i.e. when the reason for the correction arose later and was not foreseeable in at the time of settlement of the original transaction, so when the entrepreneur carrying out intra-Community acquisition receives a discount from his counterparty, e.g. in January, he should correct the tax base in the declaration submitted for January.

Correction of the settlement of the import of goods in the declaration

The introduced change is to enable the taxpayer settling the tax on import of goods directly in the tax declaration to correct the declaration, in a situation where he did not settle this tax in whole or in part in the original declaration. The taxpayer will be able to submit an appropriate correction of the declaration within 4 months after the month in which he was to settle the tax on the import of goods. If, on the other hand, the tax is not settled in the correct amount or the appropriate correction of the declaration is submitted within the above-mentioned period, the taxpayer will lose the right to settle the tax in the declaration. He will have to pay tax with interest. 

It should be noted, however, that the loss of the right to settle the tax in the tax declaration will only apply to the tax indicated in the customs declaration, the tax for which has not been fully settled in the tax declaration.

Deduction of input VAT by JPK_V7 correction

The amendment also provides for the possibility of deducting input VAT by JPK_V7 correction for the period in which the right to reduce output VAT arose and for one of the next three settlement periods, and in the case of a taxpayer who settles quarterly for one of the next two settlement periods - immediately after the period settlement, in which the right to reduce the amount of tax due arose (no later, however, than within 5 years from the beginning of the year in which the right to reduce this tax arose).

Submitting a consistent declaration of resignation from VAT exemption in the notarial deed

The amendment to the act also provides for the possibility for the parties to the transaction of delivery of the building, structure or parts thereof to submit in the notarial deed a consistent declaration of resignation from the VAT exemption and the choice of the option of VAT taxation, which is concluded in connection with the delivery of these objects. So far, the parties to the transaction interested in such an option were obliged to submit a joint declaration of the parties to the head of the tax office before the transaction date.

As part of the Slim VAT 2 package, in accordance with the draft act amending the act on tax on goods and services and certain other acts (http://orka.sejm.gov.pl/Druki9ka.nsf/Projekty/9-020-651-2021/$file/9-020-651-2021.pdf), the following changes are also processed:

Invoice duplicate liquidation

In a situation where the invoice is damaged or lost, the buyer will be given another copy of the invoice without the obligation to include the word "DUPLICATE". Due to the obligations of taxpayers in the field of JPK_VAT, there will be no need to separately identify this document.

Easier invoicing

No obligation to put the words "CORRECTING INVOICE" or "CORRECTION" on the corrective invoice and to indicate the reason for the correction.

Bulk corrections

Enabling the issuance of corrective collective invoices for individual invoices from a given period for one recipient. It will be permissible to correct the invoices of individual deliveries or services as well as to correct all deliveries or services.

Extending the possibility of issuing an invoice from 30 to 60 days

The amendment will allow taxpayers to issue invoices not earlier than the 60th day (instead of the current 30 days) before the delivery of the goods or the performance of the service, and on the 60th day before receiving, before delivering the goods or providing the service, in whole or in part of the payment.

Tickets as invoices and the abolition of the mileage limit for journeys

Currently, the invoice is considered to be, for example, train or bus tickets that document a journey over a distance of more than 50 km. Pursuant to the amendment, the buyer will be able to deduct VAT on shorter journeys related to the taxpayer's business activity.

Facilitating the deduction of VAT on cars used for business purposes

The amendment extended the deadline for submitting VAT-26 information to the 25th day of the month following the month in which the first expenditure related to this car will be made, giving 100% right to deduct input VAT.

Most of the changes provided in SLIM VAT 2 enter into force on October 1, 2021, while the provisions regarding the reporting of input VAT, among others for intra-Community acquisition and import of services, in the same settlement as VAT due, regardless of exceeding the 3-month deadline and the provisions of the act related to the settlement of VAT due on import of goods in JPK_V7, will enter into force on the day following the date of announcement of the act.