Sales of e-books and the cash register

Although initially they were not expected to be successful, e-book readers are gaining more and more followers. Together with them, the e-book market is developing more and more. The form of their sale is also evolving. Initially, they were placed on material carriers, such as CDs, with time the possibility of placing them on memory cards was extended. Currently, it is extremely popular and convenient for the reader to sell them through special Internet portals or send them to the recipient's e-mail box. The choice of the form of selling e-books is key for an entrepreneur - the decision to start trading e-books in a stationary manner will generate different legal obligations than selling them through a special platform. One of such obligations is to install a cash register.

Sale of e-books and the obligation to install a cash register in the event of

The register on the cash register must be kept by every entrepreneur who conducts business activity for the benefit of natural persons who do not conduct business activity. This rule applies to sellers of e-books fixed on tangible media, such as CDs and DVDs or memory cards, especially when e-books are distributed in a stationary system, i.e. in a store.

Keeping records of revenues with a cash register is one of the most important obligations of an entrepreneur, which is why checks are so often carried out in terms of them. In the event that the owner of the company has not installed it despite the clear indications resulting from the Act, the provisions of the Fiscal Penal Code shall apply to him. He may be fined, but if the offense is more serious, the case may be heard by a court. Although the lack of a fiscal cash register in the enterprise seems to be a trivial breach, the fiscal penal code defines as many as three offenses related to it: failure to record sales with its help, failure to issue or issue a defective document documenting the sale, and failure to keep accounting books - the law recognizes cash register statements as a significant part of the company's books.

Sale of e-books and exemptions from the need to install a cash register

There are also exceptions to the general rule. They were included in the regulation of 4 November 2014 on exemptions from the obligation to keep records with the use of cash registers by the Minister of Finance. Among the entire catalog, two exceptions will be particularly important for e-book sellers. Paragraph 3 point 1 states that those entrepreneurs whose turnover for consumers and lump-sum farmers did not exceed PLN 20,000 in the previous tax year are exempt from the necessity to use a fiscal cash register. If this amount is exceeded, the seller is required to install a cash register within a year.

During the period in which he is exempt from this obligation, the entrepreneur must, however, exercise special care as regards keeping the accounts in order to be able to notice any exceeding of the limit. This exemption applies when the entrepreneur sells e-books on material carriers.

The second exception is Internet sales. Goods for which the fee was paid via a bank, post office or cooperative savings and credit union directly to the entrepreneur's account do not have to be registered at the cash register. This exemption also applies to trade in e-books.

The lack of a legal obligation to use a cash register does not mean, however, that an entrepreneur selling goods via the Internet is completely exempt from registering transactions. It is necessary for him to keep records that allow for the identification of individual transactions, as well as the allocation of payments to goods, buyer and date. It can also send buyers proof of sale in the form of a bill or a receipt not generated by the cash register.