Intra-Community acquisition of a means of transport - settlement

When a company needs a car, the entrepreneur has a choice of several methods of purchasing it. It can be a new vehicle straight from the showroom or a used one - purchased from another company or a natural person. One of the alternatives is also the purchase of such a means of transport from a contractor outside the country, from the territory of the European Union. In such a situation, the taxpayer may deal with an intra-Community acquisition of a new means of transport.

Intra-Community acquisition of a means of transport - when does it occur?

Membership in the European Union has made it easier for Polish entrepreneurs to make transactions with contractors from outside our country. We are therefore free to buy and sell goods and services. Easier procedures don't mean there aren't any, however. Before a taxpayer decides to buy a car from an EU contractor, it is worth knowing the basic definitions.

First of all, it is necessary to determine what the intra-Community acquisition of goods, i.e. intra-Community acquisition of goods, is. A relevant definition can be found in Art. 9 sec. 1 of the Act on tax on goods and services (VAT). According to it:

Art. 9 sec. 1 The intra-Community acquisition of goods is understood as the acquisition of the right to dispose of as owner the goods which, as a result of the delivery, are dispatched or transported to the territory of a Member State other than the territory of the Member State of departure or transport by the person who supplies the goods, the buyer of the goods, or on their behalf.

One should also not forget about par. 2 of the indicated Art. 9, according to which the basic condition for intra-Community acquisition of goods is that the parties have the status of EU VAT taxpayers. A characteristic feature in this case is the prefix of the country of origin of the taxpayer, placed before the NIP number (eg PL, DE).

Therefore, since we already know what WNT is, it is also worth quoting the definition of a new means of transport. In this case, the VAT Act, specifically Art. 2 point 10.

Art. 2, point 10 New means of transport shall be understood as the means of transport intended for the transport of persons or goods: (a) land vehicles powered by an engine with a cylinder capacity greater than 48 cubic centimeters or with a power greater than 7.2 kilowatts, if they have traveled no more than 6,000 kilometers or have been put into service for no more than 6 months; the moment of putting a land vehicle into service is the date on which it was first registered for entry into road traffic or on which it was first subject to registration for the purpose of putting into road traffic, whichever date is earlier; If the date of first registration of a land vehicle or the date on which it was subject to first registration cannot be determined, the moment of putting the vehicle into service shall be the date on which it was issued by the manufacturer to the first buyer or the date on which it was first used for demonstration purposes by the manufacturer, b) vessels with a length of more than 7.5 meters, if they have been used for no more than 100 working hours on the water or no more than 3 months have elapsed since their release for use, with the exception of sea-going vessels referred to in Art. 83 sec. 1 item 1; the moment of putting the watercraft into service is the date on which it was delivered by the manufacturer to the first buyer or the date on which it was first used for demonstration purposes by the manufacturer, c) aircraft with a maximum take-off mass greater than 1,550 kilograms, if they have been used for no more than 40 working hours or no more than 3 months have elapsed since their entry into service, with the exception of means of air transport referred to in Art. 83 sec. 1 point 6; the moment of release for service of the aircraft is considered to be the date on which it is issued by the manufacturer to the first buyer or the date on which it is first used for demonstration purposes by the manufacturer.

How to settle the intra-Community acquisition of new means of transport?

How the entrepreneur will account for the intra-Community acquisition of the means of transport will depend on whether he is an active VAT payer or whether he benefits from the exemption. Such a transaction should always be accounted for on the VAT declaration - depending on the above feature and the purchase value, it will be:

• VAT-7 or VAT-7K - if the purchase is made by an active VAT payer (declaration appropriate for the frequency of settlements - monthly or quarterly),
• VAT-8 - if the purchase is made by a VAT taxpayer benefiting from the exemption, and the purchase value is greater than PLN 50,000 or if he has decided to tax intra-Community acquisition of goods pursuant to Art. 10 sec. 6 of the VAT Act,
• VAT-10 - if the purchase is made by a taxpayer who benefits from VAT exemption, and the transaction does not exceed PLN 50,000 and he does not benefit from taxation pursuant to art. 10 sec. 6 of the Act, or if the acquisition was made by a person not conducting business activity.

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In the case of intra-Community acquisition of new means of transport, the tax obligation arises upon receipt of the goods, but not later than on the issue of the invoice. On the other hand, taxpayers have 14 days to settle the tax from the date the tax obligation arises. Determining the tax base itself should take place in accordance with the principles of Art. 29a of the VAT Act.