It is crucial for non-Polish taxpayers and tax remitters to take care of their Polish tax identification number in advance to avoid delays in Polish tax payments and, in consequence, possible penalties in this respect.
Joanna Narkiewicz-Tarłowska, Director
Recently, a bill introducing significant changes in the way tax payments in Poland has been officially published. The changes will affect both individual taxpayers and tax remitters and will relate to various types of taxes. We have summarized the changes introduced and their practical consequences.
The scope of changes
Currently, the Polish tax liabilities are payable to the Polish tax authorities’ bank accounts dedicated to different types of taxes, such as personal income tax, corporate income tax, VAT, etc.
However, these bank accounts will be deactivated by the end of the 2019 and transfer of any tax liabilities to these bank accounts will no longer be possible.
Instead, as of 1st January 2020 each taxpayer and tax remitter should transfer all of their Polish tax liabilities to a given tax office’s bank account using a so called individual tax account identifying a given taxpayer or tax remitter (“individual tax account”).
What does it mean for me?
Based on the new regulations, as of 2020 each taxpayer and tax remitter in Poland should possess an individual tax account, which will include one’s tax identification number. This will either be the PESEL number in case of majority of individual taxpayers or a NIP number in the case of all of corporate taxpayers and tax or social security remitters as well as a certain group of individuals (those conducting business activity or those not being subject to a PESEL register).
The tax authorities do not intend to advise the taxpayers or tax remitters on their individual tax accounts binding as of 2020. Instead, all taxpayers and tax remitters will need to obtain the relevant number on their own, either by visiting their tax office in person or generating it online on an official Ministry of Finance webpage after providing the tax identification number. Obtaining or generating of an individual tax account will not be possible without the appropriate tax identification number.
Consequently, it is critical that each individual taxpayer or tax remitter ensures that they have either the PESEL or NIP number prior to 1st January 2020 or as soon as they become liable to Polish taxation (for instance, as soon as an assignee arrives in Poland and becomes subject to personal income tax). As a next step, each person should undertake relevant action to obtain their individual tax account. Lack of either the relevant tax identificator and/or individual tax account will be irrelevant from the point of view of fulfilling one’s tax obligations in a timely manner. Thus, failure to obtain/generate one’s individual tax account will simply mean that a given individual is not able to settle his/her tax liabilities, which may already arise on a monthly basis. Such a situation will in turn entail late interest or even penalties for non-compliance.
What actions can I undertake?
Polish nationals are generally granted PESEL numbers at birth and their major action point (assuming they are not obliged to use the NIP number) will be to obtain or generate their individual tax account number. However, the new process of tax payments in Poland may be more burdensome for foreigners who are assigned to work in Poland and become subject to Polish taxation. They will be able to make any tax payments in Poland only after they receive their tax identification number such as PESEL.
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