VAT and invoicing in Poland (2026): rates, JPK and KSeF

Poland has moved faster than almost any other EU country on digital VAT. Since 2020 every VAT return has been a structured file (JPK_V7), and in 2026 the National e-Invoicing System (KSeF) became the normal way to issue and receive invoices between businesses. This guide explains, for a small business owner, which rate to charge, when you must register, how and when you report, what a valid invoice contains and what KSeF changes in 2026 and 2027. Rates and dates are as of October 2026.

Polish VAT at a glance

The tax is called podatek od towarów i usług (tax on goods and services), and everyone calls it VAT. It is governed by the VAT Act of 11 March 2004 and administered by the National Revenue Administration (Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa, KAS) through the tax offices (urząd skarbowy) under the Ministry of Finance.

The rate depends on the exact item, so check the classification of each product or service before you put it on an invoice.

Who must register for VAT

A business established in Poland is exempt from VAT (zwolnienie podmiotowe, art. 113 of the VAT Act) as long as its taxable sales, without VAT, did not exceed PLN 240,000 in the previous year and do not exceed it in the current year. The limit was PLN 200,000 until the end of 2025 and was raised from 1 January 2026.

• Starting during the year: the limit is reduced in proportion to the days you trade. If you start on 15 March 2026, your limit for 2026 is PLN 240,000 × 292 ÷ 365 = PLN 192,000.
• Crossing the limit: the exemption ends with the sale that takes you over it. From that sale on you charge VAT, so register before you issue it.
• Excluded activities: some businesses cannot use the exemption whatever their turnover, for example those providing legal and most advisory services, or selling certain goods listed in the Act. Check the list in art. 113 before relying on it.
• Voluntary registration: you may register as an active VAT taxpayer below the limit with the VAT-R form, which lets you reclaim input VAT. This usually pays off when most of your customers are VAT-registered businesses.
• Coming back to the exemption: a business whose 2025 sales were between PLN 200,000 and PLN 240,000 could return to the exemption from 1 January 2026 by updating its VAT-R, after adjusting VAT previously deducted on assets and stock.

Your tax number is the NIP, a 10-digit number. For transactions with other EU countries you also register for EU VAT purposes, and your EU VAT number is your NIP with the prefix PL.

VAT returns and payment: the JPK_V7 file

Poland has no separate paper VAT return. You send a JPK_VAT file with a declaration (Jednolity Plik Kontrolny, the Polish SAF-T), which contains both your VAT records and the return itself.

The VAT you owe is due by the same 25th. If the 25th falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day. To switch to quarterly settlement, notify your tax office by the 25th of the second month of the first quarter you want to settle quarterly.

Invoices: what Polish law requires

The mandatory details of a VAT invoice are listed in art. 106e of the VAT Act. A standard invoice must show:

1. 1the issue date and a sequential number that identifies the invoice uniquely
2. 2the names and addresses of the seller and the buyer
3. 3the seller's NIP and the buyer's NIP (for a buyer without a NIP, such as a consumer, it is shown only if the buyer has one)
4. 4the date of supply or of payment received in advance, when it differs from the issue date
5. 5the name of the goods or services, the quantity and the unit net price
6. 6any discounts not already included in the unit price
7. 7the net value of each line, the VAT rate, the net amounts per rate, the VAT amount and the total amount due

Some situations need specific wording on the invoice:

• “mechanizm podzielonej płatności” (split payment mechanism) when the invoice exceeds PLN 15,000 gross and covers goods or services listed in Annex 15 to the Act, such as steel, fuel, electronics or construction work, sold between VAT taxpayers. Your customer must then pay the VAT part to your dedicated VAT account.
• “metoda kasowa” (cash accounting) if you are a small taxpayer using the cash method.
• “odwrotne obciążenie” (reverse charge) when your customer accounts for the VAT, and the legal basis when a sale is exempt.

When to issue: as a rule no earlier than 60 days before the supply and no later than the 15th of the month after the month of supply, with exceptions (for example 30 days for construction services).

Foreign currency: you may invoice in euros or another currency, but the VAT amount must also be shown in złoty, converted at the National Bank of Poland (NBP) average rate of the last working day before the tax point (or before the invoice date, if you invoice earlier).

Corrections: a sent invoice is never edited or deleted. Errors in prices, quantities, rates or amounts, discounts and returns are fixed with a corrective invoice (faktura korygująca), which only the original issuer may issue. It must say “faktura korygująca” or “korekta”, refer to the original invoice (and, for an invoice issued in KSeF, its KSeF number), state the reason for the correction and show the change per VAT rate. A buyer's corrective note (nota korygująca) can fix formal details only on invoices issued outside KSeF; it does not exist in KSeF.

Receipts with the buyer's NIP: a cash register receipt of up to PLN 450 (or EUR 100) that shows the buyer's NIP counts as a simplified invoice. Until the end of 2026 such receipts and invoices from cash registers can still be issued outside KSeF; from 2027, an invoice to a business for a sale recorded on an online cash register must go through KSeF.

Record keeping: keep invoices for 5 years from the end of the calendar year in which the VAT payment deadline fell, on paper or electronically, as long as they stay authentic, intact and legible. KSeF itself stores invoices for 10 years.

KSeF: Poland's national e-invoicing system

KSeF (Krajowy System e-Faktur) is the Ministry of Finance's central platform. An invoice in KSeF is a structured XML file in the official FA(3) format. When you send it, KSeF gives it a unique KSeF number, and your customer downloads it from the system. A PDF sent by email is no longer an invoice for a sale that must go through KSeF.

A few practical points:

• Consumers: invoices to individuals who do not run a business do not have to go through KSeF. You may send them through KSeF voluntarily and give the customer access, for example with a QR code.
• Foreign customers: a business established in Poland also issues invoices for exports, intra-EU supplies and services to foreign businesses in KSeF, but delivers them to a customer without a Polish establishment in an agreed form, for example a PDF or printout with the KSeF QR code.
• Outages: if you cannot connect, the offline24 mode lets you issue the invoice and send it to KSeF by the next working day; separate modes cover announced KSeF outages and emergencies.
• Free tools: the Ministry of Finance offers the KSeF Taxpayer Application (Aplikacja Podatnika KSeF), a KSeF mobile app and e-mikrofirma at no cost.

You need a channel that sends your invoices to KSeF: the Ministry's free tools or invoicing software that is integrated with KSeF. Clientlly is not connected to KSeF, so for KSeF invoices use one of those channels.

Worked example in złoty

A web developer in Kraków, an active VAT taxpayer, invoices a client in one month:

In the same month she buys a laptop for PLN 4,000.00 net plus PLN 920.00 VAT (23%) and a train ticket for a client meeting for PLN 100.00 net plus PLN 8.00 VAT (8%), so her input VAT is PLN 928.00.

• Output VAT: PLN 2,300.00
• Input VAT: PLN 928.00
• VAT payable by the 25th of the next month: PLN 2,300.00 − PLN 928.00 = PLN 1,372.00

To find the VAT inside a gross price at 23%, multiply by 23 and divide by 123: PLN 12,300 × 23 ÷ 123 = PLN 2,300.

Late payment between businesses

Poland's Act on counteracting excessive delays in commercial transactions (ustawa o przeciwdziałaniu nadmiernym opóźnieniom w transakcjach handlowych) protects business creditors:

• Statutory interest for late payment in commercial transactions is the NBP reference rate plus 10 percentage points. The Minister of Finance publishes it every half-year: 13.75% a year from 1 July to 31 December 2026 (14% in the first half of 2026). A lower rate applies when the debtor is a public healthcare entity.
• Flat compensation for recovery costs, without a reminder: the equivalent of EUR 40 for debts up to PLN 5,000, EUR 70 above PLN 5,000 and below PLN 50,000, and EUR 100 from PLN 50,000.
• Payment terms: an agreed term may not exceed 60 days from delivery of the invoice unless the parties expressly agree otherwise and it is not grossly unfair to the creditor. When a large company owes money to a small or medium-sized business, the 60-day limit cannot be extended.

Put the payment term and the late-payment interest on your invoices and contracts, so your customers know the rules from the start.

Common mistakes

1. 1Missing the PLN 10,000 monthly limit in 2026 and carrying on with paper or PDF invoices after it was crossed.
2. 2Sending a PDF instead of a KSeF invoice to a Polish business customer. From 1 April 2026 the PDF is not the invoice.
3. 3Trying to cancel a KSeF invoice. It cannot be cancelled; issue a corrective invoice.
4. 4Forgetting “mechanizm podzielonej płatności” on an invoice above PLN 15,000 for goods or services in Annex 15.
5. 5Converting foreign-currency VAT at the wrong date. Use the NBP rate of the working day before the tax point.
6. 6Relying on the exemption for an excluded activity, or noticing too late that sales passed PLN 240,000.
7. 7Filing JPK_V7 late because purchase invoices were not collected in time.

How Clientlly helps

Clientlly keeps your invoicing and your books in one place:

• sequential invoice numbering per series, with the VAT rates of your organisation's country on every invoice
• credit notes linked to the original invoice
• invoice PDFs in your client's language, multiple currencies and a card payment link on the invoice
• you see when an invoice was opened, and automatic reminders go out 3, 14 and 30 days after the due date
• recurring invoices for retainers and subscriptions
• scanning receipts with the VAT read automatically
• sales and purchase VAT books per rate, including exports, reverse charge and intra-EU purchases, and VAT reports for you and your accountant, with Excel and PDF exports
• importing clients, suppliers, products and opening balances from Excel or CSV, and a mobile app

Clientlly is not a KSeF-integrated solution: invoices that must go through KSeF have to be issued with the Ministry's free tools or software integrated with KSeF. See the invoicing features, the accounting module and our guide to getting paid faster.