Taxes in e-commerce - what form of taxation for e-businesses?

As with any business, an entrepreneur who trades on the internet should pay taxes. Therefore, after selecting a specific legal form of business (we wrote about it in the previous part of the cycle), you should choose the most favorable form of taxation for the company, i.e. the way in which income tax is calculated. If we run an online store, we have several options to choose from - tax on general terms, flat tax and flat-rate income tax. What are taxes in e-commerce?

Internet trade and tax on general terms

This type of taxation is available to every entrepreneur. This is a relatively easy-to-understand form of taxation for businesses because the tax is simply a certain percentage of the income earned. How to understand income in this case?

Income = Revenue - Tax-deductible expenses

The legislator defined two rates of this type of tax:

Basis of calculation tax in PLN		The tax is
above	down
	85 528	18%	minus the tax-reducing amount
85 528		PLN 15,395 04 gr + 32% of the surplus over PLN 85,528

Pursuant to Art. 27 sec. 1b of the PIT Act when calculating advances for income tax:

• for taxpayers whose income does not exceed PLN 85,528 - the tax reduction amount is PLN 556.02 per year;
• in the case of taxpayers whose income exceeds PLN 85,528, the advance payments are not reduced by the amount that reduces the tax (PLN 556 02 gr).

A company that settles on general principles usually keeps a revenue and expense ledger. After the end of the tax year, the annual tax return is submitted to the tax office using the PIT-36 form.

Taxes in e-commerce - flat tax

Another form of taxation that companies can choose from is a flat tax, the rate of which is 19%.The tax amount is calculated on the income of the enterprise. Logic indicates that this type of taxation is beneficial for companies that earn over PLN 85,528 and fall under the 32% threshold. However, it is not always so obvious, because the choice of a flat tax is associated with the loss of the possibility of deducting many reliefs that are present in the general rules.

Therefore, before the entrepreneur chooses this tax threshold, he should accurately calculate how beneficial this and not another solution will be for him.

Also in this tax bracket, companies run KPiR. After the end of the tax year, the annual tax return is submitted to the tax office using the PIT-36L form.

Internet trade and a lump sum on recorded revenues

In this form of taxation, the tax base is not income, as in the above-mentioned cases, but income. The billing does not take into account the costs. The undoubted advantage of this form of settling accounts with the tax office is the low amount of tax, as well as relatively simple formal issues - in this form of taxation there is no KPiR, but simplified revenue records. The disadvantage, however, is the inability to benefit from tax reliefs, as it is in the case of tax on a general and flat-rate basis.

Not everyone can benefit from this form of taxation. One of the conditions is that the taxpayer should not exceed EUR 250,000 in the amount of revenues in the previous tax year or use a tax card earlier. If it exceeds the indicated threshold, it should switch to the form of taxation implemented on general principles.

Becoming a lump sum is not easy at all, because there are many conditions to be met. On the other hand, the undoubted advantage of this form of taxation is the low tax thresholds, which start from 2% - the next ceilings are 3%, 5.5%, 8.5%, 17%, 20%.

Tax card and e-commerce

This is probably the easiest form of settlements with the tax office. You do not need to keep accounting books or KPiR, submit statements and declarations. The amount of tax is determined every year by a given tax office, and it depends, inter alia, on on the number of inhabitants of the town where the company is registered or the number of employees. Persons running an independent business or operating as a civil partnership are entitled to this form of tax payment. There are many formal requirements that an entrepreneur who has chosen this form of taxation should meet. This form of tax settlement in e-commerce can be used by service or manufacturing and service activities.

If you want to run an online store or sell on the Internet in any other way, you should carefully read the available forms of business taxation, and then choose the one that will be the most beneficial for your business.