In connection with the entry into force of the so called Polish Order, tax authorities have been equipped with two new tools to control taxpayers. These include e.g. control acquisition and temporary real estate seizure. These tools, being new, still cause confusion for taxpayers, but knowing how they work allows taxpayers to be more confident in their dealings with officials.
Controlling acquisition is another tool aimed at verifying that taxpayers comply with their obligations. Verifying purchase is an action consisting in the purchase of goods or services in order to verify the operation of the entrepreneur and whether he acts in accordance with the provisions of law. The legal basis for the institution is art. 94k of the KAS Act, introduced by the Polish Order.
The main objective of the regulation (also indicated in the justification to the act) is to combat the lack of, or improper recording of sales using cash registers, as well as issuing a fiscal receipt to the buyer, which perfectly demonstrates the value and effectiveness of the numerous ways of combating this practice to date.
In practice, this means that a taxpayer selling goods to a customer may come across an employee of the national revenue administration, who masks the conduct of an inspection expressing willingness to purchase goods will check the correctness of fulfilment of tax obligations.
Obligations of the person checking and the person checked
In the procedure itself, we can distinguish two entities – the inspector, i.e. an officer serving in an organisational unit of the National Tax Administration, and the person checked, i.e. the taxpayer who makes the sale. The person making the sale on behalf of the seller can also be verified. Immediately after purchasing goods, the checker should show his official ID card and inform the taxpayer about the purchase and instruct him about the rights and obligations of the person checked. It is worth noting that the checker is also authorised to check the identity of the person being checked in connection with the check purchase. The person checked, in turn, is obliged to accept the returned goods and accept the fiscal receipt documenting the sale of the returned goods. In addition, he must return the payment received for the new goods. Doubts may arise in the case of goods that cannot be returned. In the case of services, the legislator has indicated that these are not returnable.