Changes to the Excise Duty Act

by Tadeusz Piekłowski

7 December 2018

Please remember that by amending Article 16 of the act of 20 July 2018 amending the Excise Duty Act and the Customs Act (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 1697), the lawmakers have expanded the group of entities obliged to register for excise duty purposes.

Pursuant to the amendment, businesses must apply for registration to the competent head of the tax office before the day on which they make their first transaction subject to excise duty or before the day on which they make the first transaction involving excise goods exempt from excise duty due to their intended purpose or excise goods listed in Appendix no. 2 to the act liable to zero tax rate due to their intended purpose.

The purpose of the amendment was to make all entities that carry out transactions using goods subject to zero tax rate due to their intended purpose apply for registration, and not just entities that carry out transactions subject to excise duty using the goods, like it was before. As a result of the amendment, all entities that use goods subject to zero excise duty rate due to their intended purpose must register for excise duty purposes.

The foregoing means that the following entities are obliged to register:

• entities purchasing excise goods liable to tax,
• entities purchasing excise goods exempt from excise duty due to their intended purpose,
• entities purchasing excise goods listed in Appendix no. 2 to the act,
• entities purchasing excise goods subject to zero tax rate due to their intended purpose.

The act of 20 July 2018 amending the Excise Duty Act and the Customs Act (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 1697) entered into force on 19 September 2018 (after 14 days of its promulgation). However, the lawmakers have extended the deadline for the registration of new taxpayers purchasing the new categories of goods by 30 days, which means that it expired on 19 October 2018. Some of the changes, among others, those concerning moving the new-category excise goods in the EMSC system are going to enter into force on 1 January 2019.

As the group of entities obliged to register has been significantly expanded, your registration obligations resulting from the amending act should be reviewed. We recommend fulfilling your registration obligations promptly.

We will be happy to answer all your further questions in this matter. Furthermore, Rödl & Partner offices in Gdansk, Gliwice, Cracow, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw can offer professional tax advice in Poland and legal advice in Poland on energy law and excise duty in the area of your specific interest.