Late payment of taxes may be a tax offense

When running a business, an entrepreneur is obliged to settle all tax liabilities on time. This obligation applies to both income tax and the levy on goods and services. As you know, for late payment, the taxpayer is obliged to calculate and pay interest on tax arrears to the tax account. However, as it turns out, this is not the end of unpleasant consequences for the person running his own business, who is in no rush to pay taxes. You can read more about them below.

Let's start from the beginning - deadlines for paying taxes (PIT, VAT)

The taxpayer is obliged to make advance payments for income tax by the 20th day of the month following a given settlement period (month or quarter - depending on the declared frequency of settlements). Importantly, since 2007, there is no obligation to submit periodical PIT-5 and PIT-5L returns to the tax office. The taxpayer only needs to calculate the tax liability and pay the budget receivable to the tax account. They are physically included on the form only in the annual tax return.

On the other hand, entities that are active VAT taxpayers are obliged to submit and pay declarations monthly (VAT-7) or quarterly (VAT-7K). In this case, the cut-off point is the 25th day of the month following the billing period.

Interest on tax arrears

If the taxpayer is late with the payment of his tax liabilities, he is obliged to charge interest. You can use interest calculators to determine them.

Important! Default interest shall not be charged if the amount of interest does not exceed three times the value of the fee charged by the designated operator within the meaning of the Postal Law Act for treating a letter-post item as a registered item. Currently, this amount is PLN 8.70 (from February 1, 2014). Previously, it was PLN 6.60.

Paid interest on tax arrears does not constitute a tax deductible cost - and thus the entrepreneur does not include them in the KPiR.

Fine for failure to pay taxes on time

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As is clear from par. 57 of the Fiscal Penal Code, a taxpayer who persistently fails to pay the tax within the statutory deadline is subject to a fine for a fiscal misdemeanor.

Importantly, the court may refrain from imposing a penalty if the due tax was fully paid to the competent authority prior to initiating proceedings in this case.

Unfortunately, no regulations define what is meant by persistence. However, in recent years, the line of jurisprudence refers to persistence when the taxpayer repeatedly breaches the obligation to pay the tax within the statutory deadline.

The fine for this type of tax offense in 2014 may range from PLN 168 to even PLN 33,600.

The fine may also be imposed on the payer or the collector, as mentioned in par. 77 of the Fiscal Penal Code.

Thus, the payer or collector who fails to pay the tax collected on time to the competent authority is subject to a fine of up to 720 daily rates or imprisonment for up to three years. The regulations allow for both these penalties to be applied simultaneously.

Important! When the amount of unpaid tax is of low value, the payer or collector is subject to a fine of up to 720 daily rates.

As a rule, a taxpayer who has financial difficulties and does not allow him to pay taxes on time may benefit from a tax relief.