Correction of errors in accounting documents by the KPIR keepers

A popular proverb is "he who does nothing" - making mistakes is human and often unavoidable. In practice, they also happen in accounting. What should a taxpayer do when he finds an error in the documentation? Is it possible to correct errors in accounting documents?

Division of accounting vouchers

Accounting documents are divided into:

• foreign evidence (received from contractors),

• own evidence, including external (original provided to contractors) and internal (to document operations carried out within the unit, e.g. internal evidence).

Correction of errors in internal accounting documents

In accordance with the Ordinance of the Minister of Finance on keeping a tax book of revenues and expenses, internal accounting vouchers can be corrected only by deleting an incorrectly written text or number. Taxpayers should make corrections by deleting an incorrectly written text or number, but in such a way that it is possible to read them. The correction should be confirmed with the date and signature of the person making the correction. Individual letters or numbers cannot be corrected.

The exception is foreign evidence, which is corrected in a separate way.

Correcting errors in accounting documents - external and external evidence

External accounting documents (e.g. sales invoices issued to contractors) and external (e.g. VAT invoices, invoices excluding cost VAT) may be corrected only by:

• correction invoices,

• corrective notes.

The type of correcting document depends on which document is subject to correction and what is to be corrected (formal data or invoice items).

Correcting invoices

VAT invoices can only be corrected with a correcting invoice or a correction note. It is not possible to manually correct errors on an existing document.

Type of document	Correction invoice	Correction note
Who is issuing?	Seller	Buyer
In what situations?	invoice correcting formal data; error in the company name, address, tax identification number, etc. invoice correcting the invoice items; e.g. correction of sales, tax amounts	formal errors - in the same situations as the invoice correcting formal data * cannot be corrected with a note of valuable data

* it is not possible to correct the incorrect indication of all data of the buyer / seller with a corrective note

Corrective invoices for invoice items are issued in the case of:

• granting a discount after issuing an invoice;

• returning the seller of goods;

• return to the buyer of undue amounts;

• return to the buyer of advances, prepayments, advances or installments subject to taxation;

• increasing the price after issuing the original invoice;

• a mistake in the price, rate or tax amount or any other item in the invoice is found.

The corrective invoice should contain:

• sequential number and date of issue;

• data included in the original invoice, i.e. name of the goods or services subject to a refund, discount or price increase;

• the amount and type of the discount or price increase granted;

• the amount of the reduction or increase in output tax.

The corrective note should contain:

• sequential number and date of issue;

• the first and last names or names or short names of the issuer of the note and the issuer of the invoice or correcting invoice as well as their addresses and tax identification numbers;

• data contained in the invoice to which the corrective note relates;

• indication of the content of the corrected information and the correct content;

• indication of "Correction note".

In practice, the buyer who issues a correcting note most often sends it to the issuer of the original invoice in duplicate in order for him to accept its content. The exhibitor is then obliged to send back one signed copy. The corrective note received back is attached to the incorrect invoice. However, this is not the only method of obtaining the approval of the note.