Register as a VAT payer

Have your sales exceeded the threshold of PLN 200,000? Do your contractors want you to issue VAT invoices? Do you want to recover VAT on goods and services you purchased? Find out when you are obliged to register for VAT and when it is optional.

How to proceed

What you should know and who can use this service

Who must register for VAT

Goods and services tax registration applies to natural persons, legal persons, organisational entities without legal personality acting as sole traders in the capacity of producers, manufacturers, retailers, service providers, including entities engaged in natural resource extraction, or farmers.

You must register as a VAT payer if:

• your sales value in the previous year exceeded the threshold of PLN 200,000.
• you sell the goods or services listed in the VAT Act.

The sales value does not:

• include the tax amount
• take into account the supplies of goods and services provided for in Article 113(2) of the Act on tax on goods and services (including the intra-Community supply of goods and distance selling from Poland as well as distance selling within Poland).

If you start your business during the year, then you calculate the limit on the sales value in proportion to the period in which business activities are carried out. If the sales value exceeds the threshold of PLN 200,000, you lose the right to VAT exemption on the date when the activity that exceeded this amount occurred.

Example: Jan started his business on 31 January 2019. In 2019, the threshold for exemption from VAT was PLN 183,561.64. The value of the VAT exemption threshold was calculated using the following formula: PLN 200,000 (VAT exemption threshold) x 335 (the number of days of doing business until the end of the year) / 365 (the number of days in the year) = PLN 183,561.64. Jan benefited from the VAT exemption due to the threshold of PLN 200,000. On 8 May 2021, the total value of the goods sold by Jan exceeded PLN 200,000. Jan will be obliged to register for VAT when he exceeds the threshold of PLN 200,000.

You are obliged to register as a VAT payer, regardless of the value of sales, if:

• you supply:
  • goods listed in Annex 12 to the VAT Act  (e.g. scrap of precious metals, coins)
  • goods subject to excise duty, except for electricity (CN 2716 00 00), tobacco products, passenger cars other than those listed in point (e), regarded as depreciable fixed assets
  • buildings, civil engineering works or parts thereof in the cases referred to in Article 43(1)(10)(a) and (b) of the VAT Act
  • building sites
  • new means of transport
  • goods in connection with the conclusion of distance contracts (beauty and toilet preparations, computers, electronic and optical goods, electrical equipment and non-electric domestic appliances, and machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified)
  • wholesale and retail, parts for motor vehicles and motorcycles
• you provide the following services:
  • legal
  • advisory services, except for farm advisory services related to plant cultivation and breeding, and animal production, as well as to the preparation of development and modernisation plans for agricultural holdings
  • jewellery
  • debt collection, including factoring
• your place of business is not located in Poland.

For a full list of activities excluded from the exemption, see Article 113(13) of the VAT Act.

When you are exempt from registering as a VAT payer 

• Regardless of the value of sales, if you carry out exclusively sales transactions listed in Article 43(1) of the VAT Act (e.g. medical services, care for the disabled) – this is a VAT exemption on account of selling VAT-exempt goods and services (zwolnienie przedmiotowe).
• You will not exceed the sales threshold of PLN 200,000 or, if you start a business during the year, you will not exceed a threshold determined in proportion to the number of months in the year in which you do business – this is a complete VAT exemption (zwolnienie podmiotowe).

An exempt VAT payer means that the company/partnership does not have to file VAT returns (for example JPK_V7M or JPK_V7K), does not settle the output tax on sales to the tax office, and has no right to deduct (refund) input tax.

When you can (but don’t have to) register for VAT

• when you start your business in the current tax year and you know that you will not exceed the sales value threshold of PLN 200,000 net, calculated in proportion to the number of months in the year in which you do business
• last year your sales revenues did not exceed the threshold of PLN 200,000 net
• you carry out exclusively sales transactions listed in Article 43(1) of the VAT Act (which constitute a catalogue of activities that are exempt from VAT on account of selling VAT-exempt goods and services)
• if your place of business, a permanent place of doing business, a permanent place of residence or a habitual place of stay are not located in Poland, and in the territory of Poland you perform only such activities as transport services or telecommunications services provided to non-taxpayers. For more information, read the Regulation of the Minister of Finance dated 14 November 2014 on the determination of taxpayers not required to file a registration declaration.

In this case, you will appear in the list of VAT payers as an exempt VAT payer.

When you should complete this procedure

When to submit an application:

• before the date on which the first sale of goods or services subject to VAT is made,
• before the date on which you lose the right to exemption, that is, after exceeding the threshold of PLN 200,000 net of sales value during the tax year (or, if you start your business during the year, the amount determined in proportion to the number of months remaining in the tax year),
• before the beginning of the month in which you waive the right to complete VAT exemption or exemption for flat-rate farmers.

Please note! VAT payers register for VAT before they perform their first taxable transaction, that is, for example, before they make their first supply of goods to their contractors or perform a service.

Where you can complete this procedure

You can complete this procedure at:

• Tax Offices
• urzędy skarbowe dla największych podmiotów

What to do step by step

1. Submit a registration application on the VAT-R form

On the VAT-R form select one of two options:

• registration as an active taxpayer
• registration as an exempt taxpayer – you can (but you don’t have to) submit a VAT-R form.

You can submit your application in person, send it by mail or submit it electronically:

• on the Biznes.gov.pl portal – as an attachment to the application for entry or change of entry in CEIDG
• via the Tax Portal.

If you register for VAT via Biznes.gov.pl, your VAT-R form is an attachment to the application for entry or change of entry in CEIDG. You can sign this application, along with its attachments, with both a qualified signature and a trusted profile. However, the VAT-R form submitted on the Tax Portal can be signed only with a qualified signature.

Documents

Time limit

When to submit an application:

• before the date on which the first sale of goods or services subject to VAT is made,
• before the date on which you lose the right to exemption, that is, after exceeding the threshold of PLN 200,000 net of sales value during the tax year (or, if you start your business during the year, the amount determined in proportion to the number of months remaining in the tax year),
• before the beginning of the month in which you waive the right to complete VAT exemption or exemption for flat-rate farmers.

Please note! VAT payers register for VAT before they perform their first taxable transaction, that is, for example, before they make their first supply of goods to their contractors or perform a service.

2. The office will register you as a VAT payer

The tax office will verify the application and register you as an “active VAT payer” or “exempt VAT payer”. If you indicated in your application that you want to receive a confirmation of your registration and you paid the fee, the office will issue the confirmation to you.

You will become a registered VAT payer at the earliest on the day you submit the VAT-R form.

You will not be registered if:

• you provide incorrect data in the application for registration
• your company/partnership does not exist
• the tax office cannot contact either you or your attorney
• neither you nor your attorney appear at the tax office when requested
• the office becomes aware that you will use the services of banks or credit unions to commit fiscal fraud
• the court has prohibited you from running a business.

Documents

How much you will have to pay

• PLN 0 – submission of a VAT registration application (not subject to stamp duty)
• PLN 170 – stamp duty for the confirmation of registration (optional)

Where to pay: pay the fee to the account of the city/town council or municipality/commune authorities where you will file the registration application (the account number is provided on the website of the city/town council or municipality/commune authorities).

Example: If you file the application with the Tax Office in Poznań, then you must pay the fee to the account of the City Council in Poznań.

• PLN 17 – stamp duty for special power of attorney (PPS-1) (optional)

If you act through an attorney, you must pay the fee for a power of attorney. However, powers of attorney granted to your husband, wife, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren or siblings are free of charge.

Where to pay: pay the fee to the account of the city/town council or municipality/commune authorities with jurisdiction over the seat of the tax office where you will file the power of attorney (the account number is provided on the website of the city/town council or municipality/commune authorities). For instance, if you file the power of attorney with the Tax Office in Poznań, then you must pay the fee to the account of the City Council in Poznań.

Practical information on the power of attorney (in Polish only).

• PLN 0 – fee for a general power of attorney (PPO-1)

The application can also be submitted by the general attorney. The general attorney, whom you authorise to act in all tax matters, must be disclosed on the PPO-1 form. A natural person with full legal capacity can become a general attorney (the person does not have to be a lawyer, legal counsel or tax advisor).

Do it online at the Tax Portal.

Read the instructions on how to report a general power of attorney (PPO-1) (in Polish only)..

If you are acting through an attorney for the purposes of VAT registration, remember that the attorney is jointly and severally liable with you up to the amount of PLN 500,000 for your tax arrears arising from activities performed within 6 months from the date of your registration as an active VAT payer.

Read practical information on the power of attorney for tax matters(in Polish only).

How long you will have to wait

How can you appeal

If the tax office refuses to register you, you can:

• request the head of the office to fix the violation of the law
• lodge a complaint with the administrative court.

Good to know

Keep VAT records

If you are a VAT payer, you must keep records of purchases and sales. Businesses subject to VAT either monthly or quarterly (only small taxpayers) submit to the tax office returns and sales records (e.g. JPK_VAT7M or JPK_VAT7K) specifying, on the basis of VAT records, the amount of tax to be paid to the account of the tax office by the 25th day of each month following the month in which the tax obligation arose.

If you have the right to settle the tax quarterly, submit your quarterly return by the 25th of the month following the quarter in which the tax obligation arose.

Notify the tax office of changes in VAT payer details

VAT payers must notify the tax office of a change of data within 7 days from the date when the change occurred (e.g. a change in the accounting method from monthly accounting to quarterly accounting). The change of data must be submitted on the VAT-R form. Indicate that the form is being submitted to update your data.

This obligation does not apply to cases where there is only a change in the data covered by the update obligation under the Act on the principles of registration and identification of taxpayers and payers (change of address, change of surname), as such change is made on the NIP-2 form.

A change of address should also be notified on the VAT-R form only if the change results in a change of jurisdiction of the head of the tax office.

Inform the tax office

Taxpayers who are natural persons must inform the competent head of the tax office about:

• the entry of the successor administrator in CEIDG
• changes regarding the entry of the successor administrator – within 7 days from the date on which the change occurred.

Notify the tax office of intra-Community transactions

An entrepreneur who intends to carry out intra-Community transactions as part of their business should notify the head of the tax office of their intention to start carrying out these activities. The notice constitutes part C.3. of the VAT-R form.

When you can return to VAT exemption

If you have lost the right to a complete VAT exemption or have given up this right, you can re-apply for the exemption only after a full calendar year of operating as a VAT taxpayer expires (i.e. counting from the end of the year in which the right was lost or given up). To return to the exemption, you must fulfil two criteria at once:

• you must do business subject to VAT exemption
• you cannot exceed the sales value threshold of PLN 200,000 in the previous tax year.

You can return to the exemption from any accounting period in which you become entitled to exemption. To do this, re-submit an updated VAT-R form to the tax office.