Sales abroad and the cash register - how to document?

Taxpayers who sell to natural persons who do not conduct business activity, as well as flat-rate farmers, are obliged to register this type of transaction at the cash register - this obligation results from Art. 111 sec. 1 of the VAT Act. Doubts may arise whether this type of obligation also covers sales abroad. The full answer is presented below.

Sales abroad - definition of sales

Sales are the supply of goods or the provision of services against payment within the territory of the country, as well as their export. This definition is set out in Art. 2 clause 22 of the VAT Act.

Important! With respect to intra-Community supplies, there is no obligation to register such sale abroad at the cash register, as the transaction may be concluded only between taxpayers who conduct business.

Sales abroad (export of goods) and the cash register

It is worth presenting here the definition of the export of goods, which was regulated in Art. 2 clause 8 of the VAT Act. The export of goods is the delivery of goods sent or transported from the territory of the country outside the territory of the European Union by:

• a buyer established outside the country or on its behalf, excluding goods exported by the buyer himself for supply purposes, tourist aircraft, recreational craft equipment or other means of transport for private purposes;
• the supplier or on his behalf,

provided that they relate to the export of goods outside the territory of the European Union, as certified by the customs office specified in the customs regulations.

As is clear from the content of Art. 41 sec. 4 of the VAT Act, the tax rate for exports of goods is 0%. It should be added that the entrepreneur may apply this rate only on condition that, before the deadline for submitting a tax declaration for the selected tax period, he / she receives a document confirming the export of goods outside the territory of the European Union.

Documents confirming the export of goods outside the EU:

• an electronic document received from the IT system used to handle export declarations or a printout of this document confirmed by the customs office;
• an electronic document from the electronic system for handling export declarations received outside this system, if its authenticity is ensured;
• the paper-based export declaration submitted outside the IT system used to handle export declarations or its copy certified by the customs office.

It should be emphasized that when the taxpayer receives documents confirming the export of goods outside the territory of the EU at a later date, he has the option to correct the tax due in the settlement for the period in which he received the export document.

When exporting goods to a natural person who does not conduct business activity, the sale should be recognized when the goods are delivered, i.e. when the VAT obligation arises.

If the entrepreneur sells the goods to a private person from outside the EU, and also does not benefit from the exemption from the cash register, he must issue a fiscal receipt. In this situation, there may be an obligation to correct the VAT rate, and the taxpayer will be obliged to make corrections in tax records.

Sales abroad - mail order sales and cash register

An entrepreneur undertaking mail-order sales abroad up to the limit of EUR 10,000 settles the sale as domestic. Then, it is obliged to register transactions at the cash register, as in the case of domestic transactions, with the possibility, however, of using the exemption. The exemption is granted only if the conditions specified in the regulations are met.

In the case of taxpayers who exceed the statutory limit of 10,000 mail order sales abroad, they are obliged to register in the buyer's country. What it means - that with such a sale, foreign regulations apply, and not the domestic VAT law. Therefore, such cash register transactions do not have to be, but they may be subject to other regulations.

To avoid the obligation to register in each EU country to which the sale takes place, you can use the VAT-OSS procedure

Release from the cash register

The entrepreneur has the option to take advantage of the subjective or objective exemption from the cash register, e.g. in the case of mail order sale and export of goods. Below we will discuss the various forms of dismissal.

Subjective exemption

The subjective exemption applies to entrepreneurs whose turnover does not exceed PLN 20,000. If the taxpayer started operating during a given year, the limit is set proportionally to the period of operation.

Objective exemption

The entrepreneur has the opportunity to take advantage of the exemption resulting from item 38 of the Annex to the Exemption Regulation. According to its content, the shipment delivery of goods (post office or courier) is exempt from the obligation to register sales at the cash register, provided that the payment was made via a bank, post office or cooperative savings and credit union (to the relevant taxpayer's accounts), and from records and evidence documenting the payment, it clearly shows which specific activity was related to and on whose behalf it was made (buyer's data, including its address).

Both the subjective and objective exemption will not apply in a situation where the entrepreneur performs the activities specified in par. 4 of the Regulation (e.g. supply of alcohol products, supply of liquefied gas or tobacco products).

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Posting a total periodic report from the cash register in the wfirma.pl system

The wfirma.pl system allows you to post a total periodic report from the cash register. The tab: REVENUE »OTHER REVENUE» ADD OTHER INCOME »SALE is used for this purpose.

The total periodic report should have a number assigned by the taxpayer (eg ŁRO, order number / month / year). In the revenue adding window, select No contractor and complete the remaining data (amounts) in accordance with the data on the report printout.

After completing the basic data, go to the ADVANCED tab and in the SALE TYPE IN JPK V7 field, select the RO option from the list.

The document so posted will be entered in the column 7 of the KPiR (or in the Income Register in the case of taxpayers taxed with a lump sum) and in the VAT Sales Register.

How to issue an invoice in the company system?

In the in-company system, it is very easy to issue a sales invoice. To do this, go to the tab REVENUE »EXHIBITION» ISSUE AN INVOICE. In the window that appears, complete all the required fields and select the correct VAT rate.

Then, in the Advanced tab, select the currency and language in which the invoice is to be issued.

The sales VAT invoice will be posted in column 7 of the KPiR (or in the Revenue Register in the case of taxpayers taxed with a lump sum) and in the VAT Sales Register.