A. Conditions of the vat exemption under the sme special scheme in poland
From 1 January 2025, under the SME special scheme you are able to apply for the VAT exemption in Poland, if:
- you have a registered office in the territory of another EU Member State;
- your value of supplies of goods and/or services, exclusive of VAT, in a calendar year, for which the place of taxation is the territory of the EU, including Poland, did not exceed the amount of EUR 100.000 in the preceding and current calendar year;
- your value of sale, exclusive of VAT, in the preceding and current calendar year did not exceed the amount of PLN 200.000 or an amount calculated proportionally to the period of when you carried out your business activity;
- you do not make supplies of goods and services excluded from the application of exemption under Article 113[13] of the Value Added Tax Act, for instance you do not make supplies of new means of transport or provide legal services.
Please note
To convert the values denominated in foreign currencies to PLN for the purposes of determining the value of sale please apply the exchange rate published by the European Central Bank on the first day of the year, or, if there is no publication on that day, on the next day of publication.
B. Means of applying for the vat exemption under the SME special scheme in Poland
If you intend to benefit from the VAT exemption in Poland, you have to inform the EU Member State in which you are established of the intention to benefit from the exemption in Poland. Tax administration of your Member State will contact the Head of the Tax Office Łódź-Śródmieście in order to confirm eligibility for the VAT exemption in Poland. After positive verification of the EU threshold and the conditions for the VAT exemption in Poland the tax administration of your country will assign you the individual EX identification number for the purposes of benefitting from the exemption in Poland.
Registration requirements in poland
If you apply for the VAT exemption in Poland, you are exempt from obligation to submit a VAT registration form (VAT-R) in the territory of Poland.
If up until now you have been an active VAT taxpayer, after assigning/confirmation of the EX identification number for the purposes of benefitting from the exemption in Poland by the EU Member State in which you are established, you will be automatically crossed out from the register of active VAT taxpayers or you will remain in that register with the “exempt VAT taxpayer” status, if you have been subject to registration as a VAT EU taxpayer.
You will have to submit a VAT-R registration form, if you have only started to make sales in Poland and you intend to make transactions, which require registration as a VAT EU taxpayer (for instance you import services).
Need to know facts!
Refusal of the exemption eligibility in poland
If:
- the value of your sales, excluding VAT, in the preceding or current calendar year exceeds PLN 200.000 or
- you make supplies of goods or services excluded from the application of exemption in the territory of Poland
the Head of the Tax Office Łódź-Śródmieście will issue a decision refusing to grant exemption in the territory of Poland. the country. You will have right to appeal against such decision.
Commencement of the vat exemption in poland
You will be able to benefit from the VAT exemption in Poland from the day when the EU Member State in which you are established informs you of the assignment or confirmation of the individual EX identification number for the purposes of benefitting from the VAT exemption in Poland.
You can voluntarily cease to apply the VAT exemption in Poland. The cessation will be effective as of:
- the first month of the quarter following informing of cessation - when you submitted the information on cessation in the first or second month of the quarter;
- the second month of the quarter following informing of cessation - when you submitted the information on cessation in the last month of the quarter.
Please note
If you cease to apply the exemption, but you still want to make sales in Poland, you have to register as an active VAT taxpayer – submit a VAT-R form for that purpose.
You will be excluded from the VAT exemption in Poland beginning from the transaction by which you exceeded the amount of:
- PLN 200.000 or an amount calculated proportionally to the period of when you carried out your business activity in the calendar year;
- annual EU turnover, that is EUR 100.000.
Please note
You will become an active VAT taxpayer ex lege, when you exceed whichever one of these amounts first.
You will also be excluded from the exemption, if you start carrying out any activities excluding the right to exemption (Article 113[13] of the VAT Act).
Reapplication of the exemption in poland
If you were excluded from the exemption or you ceased to apply the exemption, you will be able to benefit from the exemption in Poland again after a one-year quarantine period, counting from the end of the year, in which you ceased to apply the exemption or you were excluded from the exemption.
C. Other obligations of a taxable person under the SME special scheme
When benefitting from the exemption in Poland you will have to:
- issue invoices (simplified invoices) - on the purchaser’s demand;
- keep your sales record allowing to determine the moment of exceeding the threshold of the subject exemption in Poland;
- submit the recapitulative statements - if you carry out activities as a VAT EU taxpayer.