Planned simplifications will further complicate VAT settlements

Will the changes in respect of single control files announced by the Ministry of Finance turn out a simplification for companies? Will there be time to adapt to these changes? Accountants and tax advisors point out that the change will entail the necessity to constantly verify and correct submitted files.

The source of the problem lies in the willingness of the Ministry of Finance to introduce the obligation to assign the SPM code to every "transaction covered by the split payment mechanism". As Krzysztof Czekaj, tax advisor at GWW, underlines, the draft regulations themselves do not specify "what was meant by the author", however analysis of the justification for the changes leaves no doubt. It says that not only transactions subject to the obligation to apply the split payment mechanism are to be marked with the SPM code, but also those in which this mechanism is applied voluntarily.

– Considering the fact that in the case of voluntary payment with the use of the split payment mechanism, it is only the buyer of the goods/service (the entity that has received the invoice) who decides whether it is to be made in this way, this will require the seller to verify the bank account in terms of the method of payment by the contractor and the effect of this verification on entries in the JPK_VAT file – emphasizes Krzysztof Czekaj.

In his opinion, it is clear that not only does this change fail to "meet the expectations of taxpayers", but it will create a significant additional burden on the financial and accounting services.

The article with our expert's comment was published on Prawo.pl: https://www.prawo.pl/podatki/nowelizacja-przepisow-o-jpk_v7-kwiecien-2021,507512.html