VAT deduction for purchases in Poland?

[ucke]

Planning to order building materials from Poland. If you have a VAT-registered company (in Sweden), the Polish building materials company deducts the VAT.
My questions are then:

How do you report this in Sweden?

How on earth will the Swedish Tax Agency find out that you've imported when the Swedish Customs Agency claims they don't care ...?

/ucke

 

[hempularen]

Not sure, but the one who gets "lourad" on VAT in that case is the Polish tax authority. And I think what should happen is that the Polish company must declare your VAT registration number in its VAT return. Otherwise, they will have to pay the VAT regardless of whether they have invoiced it or not.

Then there should be an information system between the tax authorities within the EU, so that it is reported to the Swedish tax agency that your VAT number has been imported.

If you get a tax audit, they will check this, and if you haven’t recorded those invoices in your accounts, it is both tax fraud and accounting fraud. I wouldn't take a chance on that.

What may be questionable is whether the information exchange works.

 

[Immobil]

How does one report in Sweden?

How on earth is the Swedish Tax Agency supposed to find out that someone has imported when the Customs Agency claims they don't care...?

Quote from ucke’s email:

We are ordering some goods from Poland tonight. They want a VAT-number.
I have an acquaintance who has his own business.
Is it completely risk-free, do you think, to do the following:
use his VAT but pay from my bank account?
Maybe even my name can be on the bill? Not so good if you’re "buying" the items from him.
Could there be trouble for the acquaintance?

OK, let's see if we can sort things out.

The Polish company requests a VAT number not to charge Polish VAT. If you use his VAT number, your friend’s business name has to be on the invoice. Your friend must submit a quarterly report to the tax authority. It will show which company (only VAT number is stated) in Poland he has purchased from and for how much. The same goes for the Polish company, which will provide equivalent information to the Polish tax authority.
It is claimed these two registers are regularly compared. However, I suspect this only happens during audits.

If everything is to follow the rules, your friend’s company can sell the items to you. But then he must charge you Swedish VAT.
A not entirely clean method to bypass this is if he considers the items as samples or exhibition materials. This is provided they fit within his business. However, this might be revealed during a tax audit.

8) Conclusion: It’s not completely risk-free.

That the customs agency doesn’t care is quite true. They have nothing to do with the tax agency. However, the Tax Agency does care about everything we do and don't do. :-X

Clear enough? ???

 

[ucke]

I have decided NOT to use my acquaintance. My experience with the Swedish Tax Agency is not entirely positive. To tell the truth, it is rather extremely negative! (I naturally believe that I am always right...)
I cannot imagine putting another person in trouble for the sake of money. Above all, I don't want anyone to end up in their claws. The Russian mafia sometimes seems more humane than they are, but often not...

Thanks for your responses Immobil & hempularen!!!

 

[AndWig]

How does one go about it if, as a private person, one wants to buy all the building materials for the house in Poland? Do I have to go there and pay with rubles and then truck everything home myself?

 

[piloten]

Quote from ucke's email:

OK, let's see if we can sort out the concepts.

The Polish company is asking for a VAT number to avoid charging Polish VAT. If you use his VAT number, your friend's company name must also be on the invoice. Your friend must submit a quarterly report to the tax authority. It shows from which company (only VAT number is stated) in Poland he has purchased and how much. The same goes for the Polish company, which submits corresponding information to the Polish tax authority.
It is claimed that these two registers are routinely cross-checked. However, I suspect it is only done during an audit.

If everything is to go by the book, your friend's company can sell the goods to you. But then he must charge you Swedish VAT.
A not entirely kosher method to circumvent this is for him to regard the goods as samples or exhibition materials. This is assuming they fit into his business. However, this may be revealed during a tax audit.

I agree with everyone that it is not without risk to attempt something like this. So this post doesn't change anything fundamentally. But I wanted to correct Immobil anyway; it is the selling company that submits the quarterly report, not the purchasing one. From this, it shows which VAT numbers it has sold to "without VAT" during the quarter. These are then available to the Swedish Tax Agency to cross-check against the monthly VAT report that the purchasing company in Sweden must do. On this VAT report, "VAT-free" purchases from the EU must also be included.

 

[hasse_f]

What is the VAT in Poland?

 

[Draven]

22%...