Assumptions of the system
The National e-Invoice System is to be an electronic platform operated by the Head of the National Tax Administration, through which taxpayers will be able to issue and receive electronic invoices. Each user of the system will have an individual account, invoices will be issued and received via the interface software in a uniform structured form, which will become another acceptable form of documenting transactions. The interface software will be made available by the Ministry of Finance together with a template of the structured invoice.
Creating an account in the system
In order to create an account in the system, it will be necessary to authenticate the taxpayer with a qualified electronic signature or a trusted profile, and most likely an electronic seal in the case of a legal entity. The taxpayer can give authorization to access his account in the system, which means that accounting offices will be able to issue and receive invoices using the system.
Issuing and receiving invoices in the system
Once the document has been checked for compliance with the logical structure, the system will give each invoice a unique identifying number and store it for 10 years from the end of the year in which it was issued. When the period for storing invoices in the system expires, taxpayers will be required to store the invoice outside the system until the expiry of the tax liability limitation period.
For the seller, a structured invoice will be deemed to have been issued on the day on which it is sent to the National e-Invoice System. For the buyer the structured invoice is deemed to have been received using the National e-Invoice System on the date the number identifying the invoice is assigned in that system. The use of the system will also result in no need to issue duplicate invoices.
The receipt of invoices structured using the National e-Invoice System requires the acceptance of the invoice recipient, however the regulations do not provide for a specific form of such consent. It should be assumed that such consent should be given in the same manner as the consent to receive electronic invoices, i.e. in any way, for example by e-mail.
Benefits of using the system
- Taxpayers who:
- decide to use the new solution and will issue invoices only with its help,
- have been registered as active VAT taxable persons for more than 12 months,
- have submitted tax returns in the period of 12 months,
- had a bank account or an account in a cooperative savings and settlement bank included in the white list in the period of 12 months,
- whose amount of input tax or tax difference not settled in previous periods and disclosed in tax return for reimbursement did not exceed PLN 3 thousand,
will be able to count on a faster VAT refund - within 40 instead of 60 days.
- An additional improvement for taxpayers issuing e-invoices will be the possibility to reduce the taxable amount and the amount of output VAT in the settlement period in which they issue the correction invoice in a structured form. However, in the case of purchasers, if they agree to receive invoices via the e-invoicing system, there will be a mirroring of the way in which the received in minus corrections will be recognized – such corrections will be recognized when the invoice is received via the system. If the buyer does not agree to receive invoices via the e-invoicing system, the moment of the correction of the output VAT at the issuer of the correcting invoice will not change, but the buyer will have to apply the conditions for settling the correction in accordance with the rules provided for in Article 86 (19a) of the VAT Act, concerning the agreement between the seller and the buyer on the conditions for lowering the taxable amount and their fulfilment.
- Taxpayers issuing invoices via the e-invoicing system will also be exempt from the obligation to send the structure of the single audit file for invoices (JPK_FA) at the request of the tax authorities.
Entry into force
The bill is currently in the Senate and will then be signed by the President. The new regulations are scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2022, but use of the system will be voluntary during the initial period, currently scheduled to end on 31 December 2022.
Pilot program
An invitation to participate in the tests of the National e-Invoice System has already appeared on the website of the Ministry of Finance on 7 October 2021. It is addressed primarily to entities offering invoicing software. No registration is required to participate in the pilot however, it is recommended to use anonymized data during the tests. The conditions of the pilot project are available at https://www.podatki.gov.pl/ksef/strefa-testowa-ksef/ and the test version of the software can be accessed at https://ksef-test.mf.gov.pl/
Invoices issued during the tests will not have any legal effect and will be deleted from the system after a specified period.
