Invoices marked with MPP in the new JPK_VAT file

The obligation to mark invoices with the MPP symbol in the new JPK_VAT file will apply only to taxpayers who make transactions subject to the mandatory use of this mechanism, i.e. invoices issued for a gross amount higher than PLN 15,000. PLN, which document the delivery of goods or the provision of services listed in Annex 15 to the VAT Act. The head of the tax office will be able to impose a fine of PLN 500 on the taxpayer for each error indicated.

The obligatory split payment mechanism covers invoices whose gross value exceeds PLN 15,000 (or its equivalent), documenting transactions involving goods and services listed in Annex 15 to the VAT Act. The application of the split payment mechanism consists in the following:

1) the payment of the amount corresponding to all or part of the tax amount resulting from the invoice received is made to the VAT account, and

2) the payment of all or part of the amount corresponding to the net sales value resulting from the invoice received shall be made to the bank account or account in the cooperative savings and credit union for which the VAT account is kept, or will be settled in a different way.

Moreover, if the total amount due exceeds PLN 15,000 (or its equivalent), including the supply of goods or services to the taxpayer, referred to in Annex 15 to the VAT Act, the invoice should contain the words “split payment mechanism “(Article 106e section 1 point 18a of the VAT Act).

As it follows from the above, marking an invoice with the words “split payment mechanism”, in the previously indicated cases, is a mandatory element of the invoice. However, the tax authorities allow the possibility of placing this designation in a situation where there is no such obligation, for example, when the seller wants to receive payment using the SPM.

This was also explained by the Ministry of Finance in response to one of the questions regarding SPM (posted on the website www.podatki.gov.pl), which indicated that the taxpayer may include information about SPM on the invoice, even if the gross value of the invoice does not exceed 15,000 zł. The provisions regulating the scope of data on the invoice define the elements necessary to be included. The taxpayer may also provide other information, which does not constitute a violation of the “invoice” provisions. Also, from the point of view of the Fiscal Penal Code, an invoice containing, apart from the necessary elements, additional information, is not a defective invoice. Also in the tax clarifications of 23 December 2019 on the split payment mechanism, the Ministry of Finance indicated that the inclusion of the “split payment mechanism” on the invoice, despite the lack of such obligation, is not sanctioned.

It is worth emphasizing here that when the invoice contains the word “split payment mechanism”, although it is not covered by the statutory obligation to use SPP, the buyer is not obliged to pay in the form of SPP and by paying without SPP he will not incur any negative consequences.

From October 1, 2020, active VAT payers will send VAT-7 and VAT-7K declarations in the form of a new JPK_VAT file, which will include the declaration and records. The detailed scope of data to be included in the VAT register and the method of showing data in the register – sent in the form of JPK_VAT – is specified in the regulation of the Minister of Finance, Investment and Development on the detailed scope of data contained in tax declarations and records in the field of tax on goods and services (Journal U. of 2019, item 1988, as amended). Pursuant to § 10 sec. 4 point 13 of this regulation, the taxpayer will be required to mark the transaction subject to the obligation to use the split payment mechanism in the sales records with the symbol “SPM”.

The obligation to mark invoices with the “SPM” symbol in JPK_VAT will apply only to taxpayers making transactions subject to the obligatory use of the split payment mechanism, i.e. invoices issued for a gross amount higher than PLN 15,000, documenting the delivery of goods or the provision of services listed in Annex 15 to the VAT Act. This was also confirmed by the Ministry of Finance in the responses posted on the website www.podatki.gov.pl regarding JPK_VAT with the declaration.

Please note that if the buyer receives an invoice that documents the purchase of goods or services listed in Annex 15 to the VAT Act, with a gross value of more than PLN 15,000, without the required marking, the split payment mechanism, as explained by the Ministry of Finance in the information brochure on the JPK_VAT structure with the declaration , will have to put the MPP mark on such a transaction.

In addition, from October 1 this year. the designations of the deliveries of goods and the provision of services will be presented in the structure of the records of the tax due for JPK_V7M and JPK_V7K using the symbols GTU_01-GTU_13. Therefore, if the subject of the transaction documented with an invoice are, for example, computers from group 06 (listed in item 60 of Annex 15 to the VAT Act), the taxpayer will enter “1” in the field GTU_06, respectively. Moreover, if this transaction is subject to the obligation to use the split payment mechanism, then the value “1” in the structure of sales records should be entered in the “SPM” field.

In addition, from October 1 this year, the taxpayer will be obliged to send the correction of the register by electronic means of communication within 14 days from the date of finding that the sent register contains errors or data inconsistent with the facts, or changes to the data contained in the sent register. On the other hand, if the head of the tax office finds errors in the sent records that will make it impossible to verify the correctness of the transaction, then he will request the taxpayer to correct them, indicating these errors. If the taxpayer fails to send the corrected records or fails to submit explanations within 14 days from the date of delivery of this request (or if he does so after the deadline), or if he fails to prove in the submitted explanations that the records do not contain errors indicated in the request, then the head of the tax office will be able to impose a fine on the taxpayer in the amount of PLN 500 for each error indicated in the summons (the above does not apply to a taxpayer who is a natural person conducting business activity and who is liable for the same act for a tax offense or a tax offense) The fine will have to be paid within 14 days from the date of delivery of the decision in this case. It will follow from Art. 109 paragraph. 3e-3k of the VAT Act, in the version applicable from October 1, 2020.

These penalties, as the Ministry of Finance assured, are to be imposed only on those taxpayers who, through deliberate, persistent actions and introduced errors, make it impossible to verify the correctness of transactions. Despite this, it is currently difficult to say whether the tax authorities will punish taxpayers for a mistake consisting in incorrect use of special markings identifying the delivery of individual goods or services or markings of sales receipts.

Legal basis: Act of March 11, 2004 on VAT (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 106, as amended)

Aleksandra Węgielska
“Gazeta Podatkowa” No. 63 (1729) from 2020-08-06

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