A draft regulation exempting companies from Great Britain from the obligation to appoint a VAT representative has been submitted for external consultations – the Ministry of Finance notified Friday. This is to facilitate entrepreneurs’ contact with the tax office.

As written, the Treasury has submitted to foreign consultations a draft regulation exempting companies from Great Britain from the obligation to appoint a VAT representative. It was pointed out that under the law currently in force, British entrepreneurs working in Poland were required to do so.

It was noted that Poland would be the next country, after France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Lithuania, to offer such a solution. “We want to make it easier for companies that operate or intend to do business in Poland, as well as for Polish entrepreneurs. The UK is one of Poland’s closest business partners. We want to make sure that entrepreneurs operating across borders are as comfortable as possible” – explains Jan Sarnovsky, Deputy Minister of Finance, is quoted in the information.

“This is a wonderful facility for entrepreneurs from Great Britain. Transactions made in Poland will be able to perform according to the current conditions with which they are already familiar. Thanks to this solution, their administrative burdens and costs related to running a business in Poland will be limited” – adds the department director Value-added tax at the Ministry of Finance Bowie Celera.

He wrote that at the beginning of 2021, after the end of the transition period related to Brexit, the UK is being treated as a third country in trade relations with the European Union. For this reason, British companies wishing to continue operating in the European Union countries are required, as a general rule, to appoint a tax representative for VAT purposes in those countries.

However, it was pointed out that the VAT directive allows exemption from this requirement for taxpayers who are established in third countries and with which there are legal tools in the field of administrative cooperation, combating fraud, and recovery of VAT debts. Currently, these tools are provided in the trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom, as well as the agreement between the European Union and Norway on administrative cooperation in the field of value-added tax.

As we have read, consultations on the draft bylaw will continue until February 15, 2021. Comments and opinions can be sent to the following address: [email protected].