Check your counterparty before making a transfer
Before paying, check the counterparty’s VAT status and the relevant account in the VAT taxpayer register. Keep evidence of the check as at the date the transfer is instructed. Receiving an invoice showing an account number does not, by itself, determine the tax consequences of payment.
What is the taxpayer whitelist?
The VAT taxpayer register, known as the whitelist, has operated since September 2019. It allows checks of VAT registration status, identifying details and disclosed accounts, among other information. It is neither a register of all private and business accounts nor a substitute for other counterparty checks.
Transfers to another account will not be tax-deductible
For a business-to-business transaction exceeding PLN 15,000, documented by an invoice from an active VAT taxpayer, payment to an account outside the register may disallow the tax deduction for the portion paid that way. The threshold concerns the value of the transaction, not an individual transfer; the disallowance is not limited to the excess above PLN 15,000. Statutory exceptions must be taken into account.
One form of protection is a ZAW-NR notification. As a rule, it must be submitted within 7 days from the date the transfer is instructed to the head of the tax office competent for the taxpayer making the payment, not for the counterparty. The Ministry of Finance provides details and the current electronic service.
Additional sanctions
Payment to an account outside the register may also result in joint and several liability for the supplier’s VAT. A ZAW-NR notification and the split payment mechanism may protect against certain consequences, subject to statutory conditions. Missing the ZAW-NR deadline alone should not be taken to mean that every possible means of protection has been lost.
Reporting a bank account to the tax office
Also check your own accounts disclosed in the register. Outdated details require the appropriate identification or update filing, through the CEIDG or the form applicable to the entity. Updating account details and notifying a payment already made are two separate actions.
