New structure of the JPK_VDEK (single audit file for tax)
On 29 July 2019, President of the Republic of Poland signed the Act on amending the act on the tax on goods and services and certain other acts of 4 July 2019. The amendment has introduced a number of modifications to the VAT Act, Excise Duty Act, Tax Code and Penal Fiscal Code. One of the most important amendments is that concerning VAT taxpayers’ reporting obligations serving to simplify tax settlements as well as further tightening the fiscal system.
Following 1 April 2020, VAT taxpayers, with the exclusion of micro, small and mid-sized businesses, to whom the amended regulations will apply from 1 July 2020, will not file their VAT returns in their current form. Declarations VAT-7 and VAT-7K will be replaced with a single audit file for tax, JPK_VDEK, which will take over their hitherto functions. A new, extended file, being already the fourth version of the JPK structure, will include the record-keeping as well as declaratory parts. The domestic-trade summary return, VAT-27, will be withdrawn, VAT-ZZ, VAT-ZD and VAT-ZT attachments as well as the request present in standard returns will be replaced by selection boxes in the new structure.
It might seem at a first glance that the amendments represent a nod to the taxpayer resulting in a reduction of the burden involved in reporting obligations. However, upon a thorough analysis of regulations, one can find out that the scope of data covered by the new schema could be considerably wider than in the currently binding form. The implementing regulation that is being drafted provides that the record-keeping part concerning sales should contain, inter alia, such information as: contractor's seat country code, goods or service groups per each item, identification of relationship between the transacting parties, identification of chain transactions, intracommunity trilateral transactions and those covered by the split payment mechanism.
Another unfavourable change that is worth mentioning is the already adopted administrative penalty of PLN 500 per each error in a JPK_VDEK file filed that has not been corrected or explained by the taxpayer with 14 days of receipt of a request for correction. Admittedly, a requirement that taxpayers exercise due care in completing a JPK_VDEK file is justified. However, the means applied to achieve that end appears to be excessively burdensome compared to the actual gravity of the misdemeanour.
In the wake of the above amendments, the fiscal-penal penalties have been made more precise for failure to comply with the obligation to file returns with the tax authorities, failure to file them electronically or in a format inconsistent with the electronic document template.
Taking the above into consideration, taxpayers having the status of large businesses should begin, even now, monitoring the direction the upcoming amendments could take a closer look at their currently used IT solutions in relation to JPK file creation and adjust them where necessary to ensure that the new requirements are met.
Ewa Pyrkosz, Tax Consultant, ATA Tax Sp. z o.o.
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