Poland proposes split payments to prevent VAT fraud

31 May 2017

In an effort to prevent VAT fraud, Poland is considering introducing a voluntary VAT split payments regime from 2018.

If introduced, the split payment procedure will allow customers to pay the VAT amount of a sale directly into a special supervised bank account. The tax authorities can then make withdrawals directly from this bank account in order to settle the supplier’s VAT liability.

As an incentive, the tax authorities may let any supplier using the scheme to be exempted from all other anti-VAT fraud measures. This includes being held jointly and severally liable for the payment by their customers of the VAT element of sales.