WDT - what documents entitle you to a zero VAT rate?

In the case of intra-community supply of goods (intra-community supply of goods), the taxpayer may benefit from a preferential VAT rate of 0%. To make this possible, it is necessary to meet certain conditions:

• the supplier and the recipient must have a tax identifier preceded by the two-letter code of their country, which means that they are taxpayers registered for intra-Community transactions,
• goods must be exported from Poland to another EU country (properly documented).

WDT - the most important documents

The key aspect is the proper documentation of the transaction - export and delivery of goods to the recipient. Art. 42 sec. 3 of the Act on tax on goods and services contains a list of documents necessary to confirm the delivery of goods under the intra-Community supply of goods to the buyer in a situation where the transport is commissioned to the forwarder. These include:

• international consignment note - CMR. This document, received from the forwarder, confirms that the goods have been transported to their destination in a European Union country other than Poland,
• specification of individual items of cargo.

If the goods are exported under the intra-Community supply of goods by the seller or buyer himself using his own means of transport, documents that contain at least:

• specification of individual items of cargo,
• the name and surname or the name and address of the registered office of the business or the place of residence of the taxpayer making the intra-Community supply of goods and the buyer of these goods,
• the address to which the goods are transported, if different from the address of the registered office or the place of residence of the buyer,
• determination of goods and their quantity,
• confirmation of the receipt of goods by the buyer in the territory of a Member State other than Poland,
• type and registration number of the means of transport on which the goods are exported or flight number - in case the goods are transported by means of air transport.

WDT - additional documentation

It sometimes happens that the collected documents do not unequivocally prove that the goods were actually exported and delivered to the recipient. In this case, additional documentation may be collected. Art. 42 sec. 11 of the VAT Act says that they can be:

• business correspondence with the buyer (including his order),
• documents regarding insurance or freight costs,
• confirmation of receipt of payment for the goods,
• proof of acceptance by the buyer of the goods in the territory of a Member State other than Poland.

WDT and documents in electronic form

To use the 0% rate, you can also use e-documents, which results from the individual interpretation of January 8, 2014 (reference number ILPP4 / 443-465 / 13-5 / ISN), issued by the Director of the Tax Chamber in Poznań. The taxpayer asked about a future case that related to the simplification of the existing rules for sending e-invoices and receiving electronic confirmations of delivery of goods to the recipient.

The taxpayer believed that it would be appropriate to have (in addition to commercial correspondence and specifications of individual pieces of cargo) confirmation of receipt of the goods by the recipient in the form of a return e-mail (e-invoice) or in the form of a scan with the PDF extension (traditional invoices) to a secured e-mail address.

The director of the Tax Chamber agreed with this argument, justifying: In principle, any form of the document is allowed as long as it makes it likely that goods will be exported from the territory of the country and delivered to the territory of another Member State. In the era of broadly understood technical communication, there are no grounds for refusing the probative value of a document sent, for example, in an electronic form, by scan or fax. For the application of the 0% rate for intra-Community supply of goods, it is not necessary to have a given document in paper form, it is enough to have an electronic version.

In order to take advantage of the preferential, zero VAT rate for intra-Community supplies, you must collect the documentation specified in the Act. It does not matter whether it will be delivered in traditional form or in electronic form.