Poland's Sejm enacted a comprehensive VAT law on 17 July 2026, establishing a new warehousing regime for specified commodities, restricting split payment protections for abusive transactions, and aligning domestic rules with recent CJEU judgments on agricultural exemptions and deduction rights—with staged rollout from December 2026 through July 2028.
Poland’s Sejm (lower house of the parliament) has enacted the draft law of 17 July 2026, which introduces a comprehensive set of amendments to the Polish VAT Act (the Act of 11 March 2004), encompassing the new VAT warehousing regime, compliance simplifications, anti-abuse measures, and alignment with CJEU case law.
The key changes introduced by the draft law are:
Introduction of the VAT warehousing regime
A new Chapter 11 to the VAT Act establishes a warehousing procedure for specified goods (cereals, tea, coffee, chemicals, metals, and others per Annex 17).
Operators must obtain authorisation from the tax office and meet requirements including 12 months of prior VAT taxpayer status, no significant tax arrears, legal warehouse ownership, and clean financial/fraud records.
Stored goods—capped at 24 months—can only undergo processing that preserves their combined nomenclature classification; retail sales to non-business individuals, flat-rate farmers, and consumption on-site are prohibited.
Suppliers and purchasers both holding authorisation receive 0% VAT on warehouse supplies and intra-EU acquisitions, provided the supplier holds documentation confirming goods entry into the warehouse.
Measures aimed at simplifying VAT compliance
Two VAT amendments simplify compliance for businesses winding down operations and acquiring transport across the EU. The draft law now allows taxpayers dissolving partnerships or ceasing activities to report unsold goods inventory values directly in their standard VAT return for the cessation period, eliminating the need for separate filings. Separately, taxpayers acquiring new transport means from other EU member states must submit required information electronically to their tax office by the standard VAT return deadline for that period.
Split payment and joint liability
The draft restricts the protective shield of the split payment mechanism. While split payment typically shields buyers from joint liability for a seller’s unpaid taxes, the new rules eliminate this protection if invoices document activities constituting “abuse of law” under the VAT Act. Joint liability will also now apply to service purchases with individual invoices below PLN 15,000 if monthly acquisitions from the same vendor total over PLN 50,000.
Implementation of CJEU judgments
- C-697/20 (Agricultural activity): The draft law is tightening rules on tax breaks for farmers. If multiple farmers jointly operate one farm but at least one chooses not to use the exemption, none of them can claim it. Those farmers now have to keep detailed records of all sales and expenses for five years.
- C-114/22 (Right to deduct): The draft law is closing a loophole where businesses deducted input taxes on invoices that were actually part of tax-dodging schemes. Going forward, you can’t claim that deduction if the transaction was designed primarily to exploit tax rules rather than for legitimate business reasons.
- C-273/16 (Zero-rating of import-related services): The draft law clarifies that services related to importing goods qualify for zero tax—but only if the cost of those services is already included in what you’re paying for the goods themselves. You can’t double-count the service cost.
Entry into force
Poland’s VAT law rolls out in stages from December 2026 to July 2028, with most provisions starting 1 January 2027. Cash registers get new rules; e-terminals for tax-free exports arrive in July 2028.
