No delivery confirmation according to ICS? Find out the consequences.

According to Article 13(1) of the VAT Act, an intra-Community supply of goods (ICS) stands for an export of goods from the territory of Poland to the territory of a Member State that is other than Poland. It is only possible when both the seller and the buyer are taxpayers of value added tax (VAT) and are registered for VAT-EU.

ICS – when may I apply the 0% VAT rate?

In order to apply 0% VAT rate to an intra-Community supply of goods, the following conditions must be met:

the seller and the buyer are both VAT taxpayers and are registered for VAT-EU – you can check it at https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/?locale=pl
before the deadline for submitting tax return form for a given settlement period, the taxpayer is able to confirm that the goods, which are subject to intra-Community supply, have been exported from the territory of the country and delivered to the buyer in the territory of a Member State that is other than the territory of the country from which the goods were sent originally.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: All documents relating to events affecting the correct tax settlement must be submitted to the accounting office. An export of goods confirmation is also regarded as a key document.

What is an export of goods confirmation?

When you have carriers transport your goods

You must be in possession of transport documents that should be given by the carrier. The documents must clearly indicate that the goods were delivered to the given destination in a Member State other than Poland, together with a unit specification of each load.

When you or the buyer transport the goods by your own means of transport

You are obliged to have an additional document containing at least: the names and business addresses of both the seller and the buyer, the address to which the goods are to be delivered, a description pf goods with their quantities stated as well a confirmation of the goods being collected by the buyer and also the type and the licence number of the means of transport chosen to deliver the goods.

Additionally, you can supplement the documentation with the following:

insurance-related documents,
confirmation of the payment for the goods being made,
commercial correspondence with the buyer, including their order,
confirmation of goods being collected by the buyer within the territory of a Member State that is other than Poland.

No delivery confirmation?

In case of not having any proper confirmations, no export transactions can be entered to the ledger and declaration for a given month. In the event of not obtaining documents confirming such by the time of filing the declaration for the next two consecutive settlement periods, the transaction is assigned a rate that is appropriate to such services within the territory of the country.

Legal basis:
Article 13. sec. 1 and Article 42 of the Act of 11 March 2004 on tax on goods and services (consolidated text Journal of Laws of 2022, item 931 as amended).