A couple of years ago, it was announced that the waste management system would be changed. On June 15, 2023, a draft was submitted to the Sejm introducing the so-called deposit-refund system, in which a deposit will be charged when selling products in disposable or reusable beverage packaging, which will be returned upon return of the above-mentioned packaging or packaging waste from the packaging covered by the deposit-refund system.
Poland's VAT regulations on packaging
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Poland
Author: Kristina Dosen
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Fiscal subject related
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Content accuracy validation date:
05.07.2023
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This also refers to VAT and other acts that will require change. More precisely, the introduction of a new deposit-refund system for glass bottles referred to in it will also result in a modification of the VAT Act. The government's draft amendment to the regulations on packaging and packaging waste management has been submitted to the Sejm. It provides for the introduction, starting January 1, 2025, of a deposit-refund system for disposable plastic bottles up to 3 liters, reusable glass bottles up to 1.5 liters, and metal cans with a capacity of up to 1 liter. All of these new rules relate to harmonized rules at the European Union level. It is still in draft form, and it will enter into force 30 days after being published in the Journal of Laws.
Pursuant to the new regulations, large stores (over 200 m2) will be obliged to collect empty packaging. Other retail outlets (with a smaller area) will be able to join the system and collect the packaging covered by the deposit on a voluntary basis.
According to the draft amendment, the value of reusable packaging will not be included in the VAT tax base if the taxpayer delivers goods in this packaging (in practice, it concerns glass bottles). (This has changed if we compare it with the current rules for returnable packages.) However, if such packaging is not returned by the buyer, the entrepreneur who places products in such packaging on the market will have to increase the VAT tax base by its value. Therefore, collecting a deposit for the sale of goods in a returnable package and its subsequent return by the seller within specified dates, which were determined on the basis of the documentation kept by the taxpayer, does not result in tax consequences under the VAT Act.
It is important to state that such a VAT settlement will have to be made only once a year, on its last day, by determining the difference between the number of reusable packaging introduced and the number returned in a given year's tax base for the following year. meaning he will have to keep electronic records of reusable, returnable packaging. Meaning: the above-mentioned settlement will be made on the basis of electronic records, the keeping of which will be obligatory for the entity introducing products in the packaging (the records will have to be made available electronically by the taxpayer at each request of the tax authority).
The essence of the above-mentioned deposit-refund system is the introduction of a solution enabling the consumer to return the packaging covered by the deposit-refund system at any point (participating in the deposit-refund system) without the need to present a receipt or other document confirming the sale or purchase.
Also, we need to point out that the proposed changes to the VAT Act apply only to reusable returnable packaging covered by the deposit-refund system. However, these provisions will not apply to other types of packaging.
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