2026-10-21
Poland’s KSeF penalties postponed until 2028? The proposal and its implications for taxpayers
Poland’s Ministry of Finance has proposed to postpone fines for violating obligations existing under the Polish e-Invoicing System (KSeF) - until 1 January 2028. The proposal is intended to give businesses one more year to adapt their invoicing processes to the new requirements. It would not, however, postpone the obligation to use KSeF or remove the consequences of incorrect VAT reporting. Taxpayers therefore need to understand which breaches the proposed postponement would cover and the limits of that protection.
Legislative changes are required
On 16th of September 2026, the Ministry of Finance announced its intention to extend the period during which no KSeF penalties would apply. Draft legislation designated UD477 followed. Under the proposal, the financial penalty provisions in Article 106ni(1)–(3) and (5)–(7) of the Polish VAT Act would take effect on 1st of January 2028 , instead of 1st of January 2027.
It is important to distinguish the proposal from the law currently in force. Publishing draft legislation does not change the statutory deadline. The postponement would only take effect once the amendment has been passed, officially published and entered into force. Until then, taxpayers should plan on the basis of the existing legislation, which provides for penalties to be applied already from the beginning of 2027.
Which breaches would the postponement cover?
The proposal concerns specific administrative penalties for failing to comply with e-invoicing obligations. These primarily apply where a taxpayer:
- fails to issue an invoice through KSeF despite being required to do so;
- issues an invoice that does not comply with the prescribed format when using certain statutory procedures for invoicing outside KSeF; fails to submit an invoice to KSeF by the required deadline under a procedure that requires subsequent submission to the system.
The proposal would therefore not provide a general exemption from liability for all invoicing/reporting irregularities. Its scope is limited to the specific breaches listed in Article 106ni of the Polish VAT Act. An incorrect VAT rate or amount falls outside that scope (as substantive errors).
The potential scope of these penalties highlights the significance of the proposal. The statutory maximum is 100% of the VAT shown on the invoice or, where no VAT amount is shown, 18.7% of the total amount payable. However, these are maximum limits (caps), rather than amounts automatically imposed for every breach.
The invoicing procedure matters
To assess whether an invoice complies with the e-invoicing rules, it is necessary to identify the procedure under which it was issued. Polish law sets out separate rules for, among other situations, the “offline24” procedure, system unavailability and system failure. Each procedure has its own requirements for issuing invoices, making them available to customers and submitting them to KSeF.
The draft would also remove a reference to a “total system failure”. Invoices issued outside KSeF under that procedure do not have to be submitted to the system afterwards. The proposed correction is intended to eliminate an inconsistency that could create uncertainty about the scope of a taxpayer’s liability.
In practice, the fact that an invoice was issued outside KSeF is not, in itself, enough to establish a breach. It is also necessary to determine whether the law permitted that alternative method of invoicing and which obligations applied.
The obligation to use KSeF remains unchanged
The proposed postponement of penalties would not change the timetable for mandatory e-invoicing in Poland. This is particularly relevant to taxpayers using a transitional arrangement that allows certain invoices to be issued outside KSeF. The arrangement applies where the monthly value of sales documented by those invoices does not exceed PLN 10,000, including VAT. It expires at the end of 2026.
From 1 January 2027, those taxpayers will have to use KSeF to the extent required by law. Postponing penalties would not entitle them to continue issuing invoices outside the system.
Statutory exclusions would still apply, including those for B2C-invoices. The end of the transitional arrangement would therefore not make KSeF mandatory for every invoice. The type of transaction and the customer’s status would still matter.
No KSeF penalty does not mean no consequences for incorrect VAT reporting
There are two main types of mistakes in VAT reporting: those of formal nature and substantive ones.
If a business issues an invoice outside of KSeF, yet correctly reports the sale, the breach is limited to formality. If the proposed amendment enters into force, such breaches would remain unpunished throughout 2027.
The situation would be different if the mistake would also cause substantive irregularities. In other words: postponing penalties for formal breaches would not exempt from paying the outstanding tax (with interest). In more severe cases, an additional VAT liability (for a fiscal offence) may arise.
The Ministry of Finance has also stated that the Polish tax authorities will respond to non-compliance with KSeF requirements. They are expected first to remind taxpayers of their obligations and, only if those reminders remain unanswered, check whether failing to use the system is associated with irregularities in VAT reporting. The proposed postponement would therefore reduce exposure to specific financial penalties, while leaving taxpayers’ invoicing and VAT obligations in place.
See other articles
Poland’s Ministry of Finance has proposed to postpone fines for violating obligations existing under the Polish e-Invoicing System (KSeF) - until 1 January 2028. The proposal is intended to give businesses one more year to adapt their invoicing processes to the new requirements. It would not, however, postpone the obligation to use KSeF or remove the consequences of incorrect VAT reporting. Taxpayers therefore need to understand which breaches the proposed postponement would cover and the limits of that protection.
By 15th of October 2026, some taxpayers might be transferred to a different Polish tax office as from 1 January 2027. If so, theymust notify the head of their currently competent tax office. This requirement covers transfers “up” to a specialised tax office, transfers between specialised offices, and transfers “down” to a local tax office. Whether a transfer is required may depend on the taxpayer’s sales revenue. However, comparing the latest annual figures with the current threshold is not enough. Taxpayers must also establish whether they meet the conditions for coming under a particular office’s jurisdiction or for leaving it. For the First Mazovian Tax Office in Warsaw, transitional provisions must also be considered. The rules below concern tax office jurisdiction determined by reference to revenue.
Can a shareholder derive taxable income from receiving a claim that they will never be able to enforce? According to the Polish tax authorities, the answer is yes. It is sufficient for the claim to be transferred to the shareholder as part of the distribution of liquidation assets, even if the shareholder is also the debtor and the obligation is extinguished as a result of confusio. This position was presented by the Director of the Polish National Tax Information Service in an individual tax ruling dated 21 July 2026, ref. 0115-KDWT.4011.203.2026.2.DS. The ruling confirms the restrictive approach adopted by the Polish tax authorities: first, the shareholder receives the claim, and only then is it extinguished. According to the authority, the first stage alone is sufficient to give rise to taxable income.
Reform of Poland’s tax ruling system: five-year validity and centralisation of municipal tax rulings
Businesses engaged in distance selling often issue an invoice as soon as goods leave the warehouse. Where delivery is handled by a third-party carrier, however, the actual date on which the supply takes place may not yet be known. This raises the question of whether the seller may issue an invoice without specifying the date of supply and whether, once delivery has been confirmed, the missing date must be added by means of a corrective invoice. These issues were addressed by the Director of Poland’s National Revenue Information Service (KIS) in an individual tax ruling dated 14 July 2026, reference no. 0114-KDIP1-2.4012.236.2026.2.RM. The ruling may be particularly relevant to businesses operating in the e-commerce, manufacturing and logistics sectors, especially where deliveries take place around the end of a VAT reporting period.
Reform of Poland’s tax ruling system: five-year validity and centralisation of municipal tax rulings
Poland’s Ministry of Finance is preparing a comprehensive reform of the rules governing the issuance and operation of tax rulings. Draft Bill UD445 provides, among other things, for a five-year validity period for individual tax rulings, a procedure for extending their protective effect, broader protection covering tax consequences arising before a ruling is served, and new grounds on which existing rulings may cease to apply. Draft Bill UD450, in turn, would transfer responsibility for issuing rulings on taxes and charges administered by municipal tax authorities to the Director of the National Tax Information Service. Not all elements of the reform are at the same stage of the legislative process. Draft Bills UD445 and UD450 have not yet been enacted. However, legislation requiring municipal tax rulings to be published in the central EUREKA tax rulings database has already been adopted. When assessing the implications of the reform, it is therefore important to distinguish between enacted measures and legislative proposals whose final wording may still change.
Poland’s draft bill UD116 could significantly change the tax treatment of certain entrepreneurs operating under B2B arrangements. The proposed rules would not abolish self-employment or Poland’s lump-sum tax regime on recorded revenue. However, they are intended to reduce the tax attractiveness of certain structures, particularly transactions with related parties, service businesses operating without employees, and the use of the Polish IP Box regime.
The Act of 29 May 2026 amending the Polish Tax Ordinance and certain other acts, signed by the President of Poland, introduces significant changes to the Polish rules on reporting tax schemes, commonly referred to as MDR, or Mandatory Disclosure Rules. The new MDR provisions are expected to enter into force on 1 October 2026 and will substantially narrow the scope of obligations which, since 2019, have been one of the more demanding elements of tax compliance in Poland.
Tax proceedings in Poland should not be a process in which only the tax authority decides which facts will be examined and which evidence will be taken into account. Under the Polish Tax Ordinance Act, taxpayers have the right to actively participate in proceedings, including the right to submit their own requests for evidence. In practice, however, not every piece of evidence proposed by a taxpayer will be admitted. When can the tax authority refuse an evidentiary request, and what options are available to taxpayers in such situations?
Determining when a VAT liability arises in relation to services remains one of the more challenging issues in practice under Polish VAT law. Although Article 19a(1) of the Polish VAT Act clearly states that VAT becomes due when a service is performed, establishing when a service is actually “performed” sometimes requires a case-by-case assessment of the contractual model and the underlying commercial reality. Recent Polish judgment by the Supreme Administrative Court of 31 March 2026 (I FSK 1353/23) provides important clarification in the context of IT services.
As the Polish National e-Invoicing System (KSeF) becomes more widely used, businesses are increasingly encountering a practical issue known as the “double document circulation.” This occurs when the structured invoice stored in KSeF (XML) differs from the PDF visualization sent to the customer, for example by email or through a customer portal.