Nowadays it's quite difficult to meet a person on the street with a plain old push-button phone, as the world is going through a process of digitalisation. Various countries around the world are introducing innovative approaches to financial transactions, affecting the way they do business. For example, in Poland, from 2024, a limit on the use and withdrawal of cash will be introduced, and all large purchases can be made only by cashless payment. This also affects the usual invoices, which we are usually given in the shop in the usual paper form.
Is it true what they say that from 2024 every business owner will have to join the system of electronic invoices? The topic of the new system is still not very clear to ordinary people, so let's understand what it is. Enjoy reading this article!
What is the basis for the implementation of KseF?
First of all, on 8 December 2022, the European Commission published a proposal for changes to VAT that will adapt VAT calculations to the challenges of the digital age. Further, the Polish Ministry of Finance made an announcement that a new system called KseF (Krajowy System e-Faktur) will be introduced in the near future. This computer program is being introduced to automate the processing of invoices and their further storage in one single place.
How will the National e-invoicing system work in Poland?
From January 2022 until June 2024, joining the National Electronic Invoice System (KseF) for business owners in Poland remains optional. However, the Polish authorities have already defined in their plans and outlined the period when this system will become mandatory.
Starting from 1 July 2024, the National Electronic Invoice System will become mandatory for active VAT payers.
Starting from 1 January 2025, the National Electronic Invoice System will become mandatory for taxpayers who are exempt from paying VAT.
The principle of the KseF system is quite simple - the invoice will be issued in XML file format and each invoice will contain personal data of the buyer. Many people think, where will the system get the buyer's data from and is it safe? The data will be taken from the bank card from which the payment is made. And yes, it is quite safe because all data is stored on the servers of the Ministry of Finance of Poland, so you should not worry about your data, data leakage is very unlikely.
To voluntarily connect to the KseF system, you need to have a qualified electronic signature and an authorized personal account on the official website of the National System of Electronic Invoices. We talked more about the topic of qualified electronic signature in our article.
Why accounting will become more convenient and easier with the implementation of KseF?
The implementation of the National System of Electronic Invoices (KseF) in 2024 promises a paradigm shift in the accounting paradigm for businesses in Poland. These changes bring with them a range of benefits that will make doing business more convenient:
Exemption from the need to work with traditional invoices (storage, archiving).
Obtaining VAT refund privileges (reducing the timeframe from 60 to 40 days).
Standardization and automation of business operations
Increasing processing speed.
Automation of office workflow.
Standardization of accounting tools.
Automatic archiving with a retention period of at least 10 lei without business involvement.
You will have to hand over much less data to the tax office than it was before.
Will the old paper receipts remain?
Based on the above reading, the question may arise «will traditional paper receipts remain in use»? Businesses will be able to issue not only electronic receipts, but also paper receipts. However, as time goes on, there will be fewer and fewer of them, and according to the Polish authorities' program, paper invoices will be out of circulation by 2028 and will no longer be issued anywhere, as everything will switch to digitalized services.
Many people still really don't understand how this works yet, but there's really nothing complicated about it. We recommend that business owners connect to the KseF system soon, as sooner or later it will have to be done anyway. Follow the aksis blog to keep up to date with new changes that are happening in Poland!
