How to correctly determine the tax base in WNT?

The VAT tax base is the amount that the buyer has to pay for the purchased goods (purchase price, or if it does not exist, manufacturing cost). This amount includes:

• taxes, duties, fees and other charges related to the acquisition of goods, except VAT
• commissions, costs of packaging, transport, insurance collected by the supplier from entities making intra-Community acquisitions.

Taxes and duties that can be included in WNT-related costs

Counterparties from other EU countries often tax the transaction with value added tax at the rates applicable in their respective countries. Then the Polish buyer should increase the tax base of intra-community tax by the amount of foreign tax. This rule applies to any tax charged by a supplier from another EU country, except for the Polish tax on goods and services.

Taxpayers may also include excise duty paid on intra-Community acquisition of goods into the tax base of intra-Community acquisition of goods. In a situation where the amount of the excise duty payable is reduced by the Head of the Customs Office, the taxpayer is obliged to correct the proposed tax base for intra-Community acquisition of goods.

The tax base may also include the Polish equivalent of value added tax and customs duty.

Fees and other charges

Additional costs that the buyer may incur are all kinds of fees. The most common of these are administrative fees. If the costs of administrative fees related to the purchased goods are transferred to the Polish buyer, they should increase the tax base of intra-Community acquisition of goods.

Packaging and transportation costs

We have two options related to the settlement of the transport of purchased goods, when:

• the goods will be delivered by the supplier, then the transport costs will increase the WNT tax base
• a Polish buyer will commission an external company to transport goods purchased from an EU contractor, then the costs of transport do not increase the tax base for the intra-Community acquisition of goods

Insurance costs

When the goods purchased by the Polish buyer are insured by his supplier, then the insurance costs will increase the intra-tax base. If a Polish buyer himself concludes an insurance contract for the purchased goods and incurs costs, then he cannot increase the intra-tax base.