Retail Sales Tax introduced in Poland
Poland is planning to introduce a new indirect tax - Retail Sales Tax.
The new measure would tax the total amount of sales made by retail businesses. This tax will be different from VAT and will be non-deductible for CT purposes. The tax base includes all sales to final consumers excluding VAT and returned goods. Services are not included. The rate will depend on the day of the week and the revenue generated. From Monday to Friday, the rate will be 0.7% up to 300,000 PLN and 1.3% above this threshold; Saturday and Sunday sales will be subject to 1.3% rate up to 300,000 PLN and 1.9% above this threshold. There is also an exemption for small retailers (below 1.5M PLN of sales per month).
Retail sales tax introduced in Poland signifies additional compliance obligations, with a new retail sales tax return due by the 25th day of the month. Also, this new tax will apply to foreign businesses including distance sellers, which may complicate sales to Polish customers significantly. The expected implementation date is April 2016. However, there are many aspects to be clarified and technical issues to be resolved, so this date may be postponed in the coming weeks.