KSeF – the next step in fiscal digital (r)evolution
Despite the fact that the introduction of compulsory electronic invoicing has been postponed (for the time being without a necessary change to the law), it must be remembered that it will constitute the most important step to date in the digital evolution of tax processes, writes Andrzej Kapczuk, tax adviser, head of the VAT Team, partner and associate at Thedy & Partners in Rzeczpospolita.
Let me share my own reflection on this occasion. When I started my professional career in the field of taxation at the turn of the century (and here it is already almost a quarter of a century ago), the exchange of information in digital form was in its infancy. It is true that, alongside the then reigning snail mail, the fax machine was quite common, and computers were already in use, but in principle the latter were not used to send data “out”. And certainly not between the taxpayer and the tax authority (or vice versa). In principle, computers were used (at least in the service/consultancy business) for preparing materials (word, excel), printing, obtaining some residual information on the nascent internet, sending e-mail which, however, still had no “official” attribute at the time. Even the availability of universally applicable regulations was variable. It was impossible to find them on the Internet (the obligation to publish legal acts in electronic form appeared many years later), companies offering databases were only just being established, so paper versions of the law gazettes had to be used. But laws also did not change at the speed they do today.
Ubiquitous digitalisation
Over the last few years, the progress in fiscal digitalisation has been tremendous. And it is worth emphasising that Poland is a country that leads the way in this transformation (as in many other areas, e.g. e-banking solutions, or banking and financial institutions more broadly). As part of the taxpayers’ communication with the tax authorities, paper-based declarations gradually began to be replaced by electronic declarations (for a while the two forms existed in parallel, and then in certain situations only the latter remained), the JPK came into force, first in a simplified form, to eventually replace some declarations as well (the final word has not yet been said here, by the way), and online fiscal cash registers appeared, thanks to which the tax authorities obtain a lot of information in real time. Of course, the tax authorities also have a number of other sources of information about taxpayers at their disposal, such as the Clearing House Information and Communication System (STIR). For example, we are yet to see the implementation of a central electronic register of contracts – not only for public finance sector units, but ultimately for all taxpayers. In a word, ‘Big Brother’ in its real and official version.
The entire article can be read in Rzeczpospolita of 19 February 2024, pages: D6-D7