Act signed. When does it come into force and what does it mean?
On 16 November 2021, the President signed the Act of 29 October 2021 to amend the Personal Income Tax Act, the Corporate Income Tax Act and some other acts - commonly known as the Polish Deal. The Act was published in Dziennik Ustaw on 23 November 23, 2021, item 2105. Most of the provisions of the act come into force on 1 January 2022, some provisions on the day following their publication, and some on other dates specified in the act.
This Act (Polish Deal) provides for two obligations for the users of cash registers. The first of them comes into force on 1 January 2022, and the second - in accordance with Article 89.3 of the Act - on 1 July 2022.
1st - (comes into force on 1 January 2022) is the obligation to accept payment for goods or services with a ""payment instrument"", i.e. an electronic form of payment by all companies using cash registers. It follows from the following provision
Article 22.
The Act of 6 March 2018 - Business Law (Dz. U. of 2021, item 162) is amended as follows:
2) After Article 19, the following Article 19a is inserted:
"Article 19a. 1. The company provides the possibility of making payments in any place where the economic activity is actually performed, in particular at the premises, outside the premises of the company or in a vehicle used to provide passenger transport services, using a payment instrument within the meaning of the Act of 19 August 2011 on payment services (Dz. U. of 2021, items 1907 and 1814).
Companies who do not have to use cash registers are exempt from the above obligation:
2. The provision of Paragraph 1 shall not apply to a company which is not required to keep records of sales with the use of cash registers referred to in the Value Added Tax Act of 11 March 2004 (Dz. U. of 2021, item 685, as amended).
In accordance with the definition of the Payment Services Act referred to by the Polish Deal:
A payment instrument is a personalised device or a set of procedures agreed by the user and the supplier, used by the user to submit a payment order;
Taking into account the fact that the definition of ""payment instrument"" is very broad and covers all devices or procedures enabling the payer to submit a payment order, this requirement may be met by ensuring that payments are accepted, e.g. by payment card (terminal), electronic transfer, mobile payments , BLIK, SkyCach, etc.
The Act does not provide for specific penalties for the failure to ensure the possibility of paying for goods or services with a ""payment instrument"". On the other hand, companies which do not meet this requirement cannot apply for a VAT refund resulting from the ""fast track"" introduced in the "Polish Deal"
2nd - (comes into force on 1 July 2022) if the company uses online cash registers and uses a terminal for payment with a ""payment instrument"", it is required to connect the terminal with an online cash register. It follows from the following provision
3. A company that provides the possibility of accepting payments using a payment terminal and keeps sales records using cash registers, which enable the connection and transfer of data between the cash register and the Central Repository of Cash Registers, as specified in Article 111a.3 of the Value Added Tax Act of 11 March 2004, ensures the cooperation of the cash register with a payment terminal in accordance with the technical requirements for cash registers specified in the implementing provisions issued on the basis of this Act.
Theoretically, the date of entry into force of these regulations may be postponed. It follows from the following provision
4. The minister responsible for economy, in agreement with the minister responsible for public finance, may release, by way of a regulation, for a specified period of time, certain companies from the obligation referred to in Paragraph 1, bearing in mind the technical and organisational possibilities of ensuring that the consumer has the right to pay with the use of a payment instrument.
The above obligation does not apply to users of online fiscal printers, as these are exempt from the obligation to have a communication interface with a payment terminal under § 6. 7) c. of the Regulation of the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology of 28 May 2018 on the criteria and technical conditions that must be met by cash registers under which all online devices have been approved by the President of the GUM (Central Office of Measures). The same provision is found in the amended Regulation on technical requirements for cash registers.
The company may be severely punished for failure to comply with the second obligation. It follows from the following provision:
Article 14.
19) In Article 111 of the Value Added Tax Act:
b) After Section 6ka, the following Section 6kb is inserted:
„6kb. If it is found that the taxpayer keeping the sales records using the cash register, contrary to the obligation referred to in article 2.19a.3 of the Act of 6 March 6, 2018 - Business Law, does not ensure the cooperation of the cash register with a payment terminal, by means of which it provides the possibility of accepting payments, in accordance with the technical requirements for cash registers, the head of the tax office, by way of a decision, imposes on this taxpayer a financial penalty in the amount of PLN 5,000.”,
Each Novitus online cash register has the obligatory ECR-EFT protocol implemented, enabling the connection of the cash register with a payment terminal. Unfortunately, not all terminals can connect to online cash registers - they do not have this protocol or do not have the appropriate interface for such a connection. Therefore, each user of an online cash register who has a payment terminal or who wants to sign a contract for the use of a payment terminal should check whether this terminal works with online cash registers. Information on the compatibility of terminals with online cash registers can be obtained on the website of the Foundation for the Development of Cashless Transactions.