How to settle the theft of company property?

Even such a seemingly distant issue from the tax issue is how the theft of a company car can have tax consequences. If the taxpayer meets several of the indicated conditions, he will be able to count the theft of company property as a tax deductible cost.

Theft of company assets as a tax cost

As has already been mentioned above, in order to be able to count the theft of the company's assets as losses, the entrepreneur must meet several conditions. Above all, he will be required to:

• define the circumstances and the cause that caused the loss,

• exclude your own fault or neglect,

• draw up a loss report.

Important! The loss resulting from theft cannot be equated with the tax loss resulting from the excess of costs over revenues.

The loss should arise as a result of an unforeseen event that the trader was unable to prevent, and not due to the trader's negligence or recklessness. In the event of an inspection, it is the taxpayer's responsibility to prove that they are properly secured.

Correct documentation of the loss

The taxpayer should prepare a detailed loss report on his own, which will allow the theft of the company's property to be properly documented. Such a protocol must contain the following elements:

• type and value of the loss suffered,

• date of the event,

• the cause of the damage,

• signature of the entrepreneur (as well as any witnesses to the event),

• the date on which the document was drawn up.

The taxpayer should also report the crime to the police - in addition to a self-made protocol, it is also worth having correspondence with law enforcement authorities.This will definitely increase the evidential value of the protocol.

Theft of company fixed assets

If the company's tangible assets are stolen, only the value of the lost property, which has not been depreciated, may be recognized in tax costs. The last depreciation write-off should be made in the month in which the asset was stolen. The entrepreneur calculates the non-depreciated part of the property, i.e. subtracts from the initial value depreciation write-offs booked so far in costs. The value of that part of the property that has not been depreciated should be included in the KPiR in column 13 of the KPiR - Other costs, on the date of the loss.

Theft of a company car - special settlement rules

The theft of a company car is accounted for differently than theft of other fixed assets.

Important! Art. 23 sec. 1 point 48 of the Personal Income Tax Act indicates that the entrepreneur cannot count as tax costs losses resulting from the loss or liquidation of cars and the costs of their post-accident repairs, if the cars were not covered by voluntary insurance.

As can be seen from the above, if the entrepreneur did not have additional insurance purchased at the time of the theft (usually it is AC insurance), he cannot include the theft of a company car in the costs. In this case, even if the theft resulted from the entrepreneur's negligence, he will not be able to include it as costs.

Cash theft

The entrepreneur may also recognize cash theft as tax deductible costs. However, he must prove that the theft of the company's assets was not caused by his carelessness or recklessness or a lack of supervision over employees. He will not be able to count the theft as tax costs if he has not exercised due diligence in storing cash, e.g. he has not properly secured the funds - this is the position of the tax authorities at present.

Theft of commercial goods

Losses in the condition of goods may also be a tax cost, provided that they did not result from failure to exercise due diligence by the entrepreneur managing the warehouse or from the lack of supervision over the warehouse. This is upheld by the Minister of Finance in his position: it does not follow from the applicable provisions of the Act that losses (...) should be excluded from tax deductible costs, and therefore, as a rule, these losses may be considered tax costs, however, each and every case of this kind an economic event should be considered and assessed individually as a specific case, taking into account the factual circumstances of the case under examination. (...).

In the case of theft of commercial goods, the entrepreneur should:

• determine the value of the stolen goods,

• draw up a loss report,

• write off the net value of the stolen goods in column 10 of the KPiR (Purchase of commercial goods and basic materials),

• include the value of stolen goods in column 13 of the KPiR (Other Expenses), provided the theft was not due to negligence.

VAT correction in case of theft

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on the necessity to correct VAT in the event of theft of company property. It stated that the theft did not require an appropriate correction, as long as it was duly documented and was not caused by the entrepreneur's own negligence.

Therefore, only a loss that can be included in tax costs:

• it was not created as a result of the entrepreneur's negligence or lack of diligence,

• arose as a result of an unforeseen event, which is undoubtedly theft.

The same conditions must be met in order not to be subject to the obligation to correct the deducted VAT.