Intra-Community delivery of goods – how to document it? | JWW Accounting Office

Intra-Community delivery of goods – how to document it?

Intra-Community supply of goods is the delivery (export) of goods from the territory of Poland to the territory of an EU Member State other than Poland. This only takes place if both the seller and the buyer are value added tax payers and are registered for VAT-EU.

A 0% tax rate applies to Intra-Community supply of goods provided that:

– the taxpayer made a supply to a buyer who had an appropriate and valid identification number for intra-Community transactions, assigned by the Member State competent for the buyer, containing a two-letter code used for value added tax, which the buyer provided to the taxpayer,

– when submitting a tax return indicating this supply of goods, the taxpayer is registered as an EU VAT payer,

– before the deadline for submitting a tax return for a given settlement period, the taxpayer has in his documentation evidence that the goods subject to Intra-Community supply of goods were exported from the territory of the country and delivered to the buyer in the territory of a Member State other than the territory of the country.

IMPORTANT!
You can verify the status of your VAT number by selecting the appropriate country from the list and entering the number you want to check:

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/#/vat-validation

Intra-Community supply of goods – what confirmations should you have?

The taxpayer can choose between using the evidence specified in the EU Council regulation and the evidence specified in the VAT Act.

Pursuant to the VAT Act, evidence confirming the export of goods may include:

– transport documents received from the carrier (forwarder) responsible for the export of goods from the territory of the country, which clearly show that the goods were delivered to their place of destination in the territory of another Member State,
– specification of individual pieces of cargo.

If the taxpayer organizes the export of goods using his or her own means of transport or the buyer’s, the taxpayer should also have a document containing at least:

– name and surname or name and address of the registered office of business activity or place of residence of the taxpayer making intra-Community supply of goods and the purchaser of these goods,
– the address to which the goods are transported, if it is different than the address of the registered office of the business or the place of residence of the buyer,
– indication of goods and their quantities,
– type and registration number of the means of transport by which the goods are exported or flight number,
– confirmation of receipt of the goods by the buyer at a place located in the territory of a Member State other than the territory of the country.

In a situation where the above confirmations do not clearly document the delivery of goods to the buyer, you can optionally also complete other documents indicating that an intra-Community delivery took place, in particular:

– commercial correspondence with the buyer, including the order,
– documents regarding insurance or freight costs,
– confirmation of payment for the goods, except when the delivery is free of charge or the obligation is fulfilled in another form,
– proof of receipt of the goods by the buyer in the territory of a Member State other than the territory of the country.

The seller has the right to present the documents specified in the EU Council Implementing Regulation. In this situation, it uses the presumption that the goods have left the territory of the country.

Should have:
1. Two documents related to transportation:
a. signed CMR consignment note,
b. bill of lading (sea waybill),
c. an invoice for air freight transport or an invoice from a cargo carrier,

One transport-related document and one other type of document:

a. an insurance policy related to the shipment or transportation of goods or a confirmation from a bank indicating payment for the shipment or transportation of goods,
b. a document confirming receipt issued by the warehouse operator in the Member State of destination, confirming the storage of the goods in this Member State,
c. official documents issued by a public authority, for example a notary, confirming the arrival of the goods in the Member State of destination.

Importantly, the documents cannot be contradictory and must be issued by two independent parties. Where goods are shipped or transported by the buyer, he must have written declarations from the buyer indicating this fact and the country of destination of the goods.

Intra-Community delivery of goods – a form of documents confirming export

The taxpayer may have the original document in the form of:
– paper,
– electronic document or document made available in electronic form (e.g. e-mail, scan), including those generated via an electronic system.

Late receipt of documents confirming export

If, before the deadline for submitting a tax return, the condition of having appropriate evidence proving the export of goods under intra-commercial transport has not been met, then:

• in the case of quarterly declarations – deliveries are not included in the records for this period, but for the next settlement period at the rate appropriate for the delivery of a given product within the territory of the country,

• in the case of monthly declarations – deliveries are not included in the records for this period, but in the records for the next settlement period after the next settlement period at the rate appropriate for the delivery of a given product within the territory of the country.

Obtaining evidence at a later date makes it possible to showi ntra-Community supply of goods with a 0% rate in the records for the settlement period in which the tax obligation arose and to correct the tax return and summary information.

Legal basis:
– art. 13, 42 of the Act of 11 March 2004 on tax on goods and services (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2024, item 361)
– Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1912 of 4 December 2018 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 282/2011 as regards certain exemptions related to intra-Community transactions (OJ EU L. 2018. 311. 10)