VAT-UE and VAT OSS in Poland: who files, deadlines and corrections
VAT-UE is the EC Sales List (informacja podsumowująca) of intra-EU transactions that a JDG (a sole trader’s business, jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza) files every month when it trades with businesses from other EU countries. VAT OSS is a separate procedure for sales to consumers in the EU: it lets you settle foreign VAT in a single quarterly return in Poland. This article explains who files VAT-UE (a VAT-exempt JDG included), how and by when, what to do if you’re late or make a mistake, and then when you need the OSS procedure and how to use it.
VAT-UE: what it is
The VAT-UE summary is a statement, not a tax return. You don’t pay any tax on the basis of it. In it you show sales of goods and services to businesses from other EU countries, and purchases of goods from them. The tax offices of EU countries compare this data with each other: your sale to a business in Germany should match the purchase it reports in Germany.
Art. 100 ust. 1 of the VAT Act lists what goes into VAT-UE:
- intra-EU supplies of goods (WDT), that is, sales of goods shipped to a VAT-registered business in another EU country;
- intra-EU acquisitions of goods (WNT), that is, purchases of goods from a business in another EU country that arrive in Poland;
- services to businesses from other EU countries, when the place of supply is the buyer’s country (art. 28b) and the buyer accounts for the VAT under the reverse charge;
- supplies in triangular transactions and movements of goods under the call-off stock procedure.
In VAT-UE you don’t report exports outside the EU, sales to consumers in the EU, or services bought from foreign businesses. A purchase of services, for example advertising or a software subscription from a business in Ireland, you account for, according to biznes.gov.pl, as an import of services: in JPK_V7 (the monthly VAT file with the return) or, if you’re VAT-exempt, in the VAT-9M return.
Who files VAT-UE
VAT-UE is filed by a taxpayer registered as an EU VAT taxpayer who had one of the transactions above in the month. Typical situations for a JDG:
| Situation | EU VAT registration | VAT-UE |
|---|---|---|
| An active VAT payer sells goods to an EU business (WDT) | yes, before the first supply | yes |
| An active VAT payer buys goods from an EU business (WNT) | yes, before the first acquisition | yes |
| A JDG, active or exempt, provides services to an EU business (art. 28b) | yes, before the first service | yes |
| A VAT-exempt JDG buys goods from the EU for more than PLN 50,000 a year | yes | yes, plus VAT-8 |
| A VAT-exempt JDG buys services from an EU business | yes | no, only VAT-9M |
A VAT-exempt JDG files VAT-UE too
This is the most common surprise. The VAT exemption (zwolnienie podmiotowe, art. 113) concerns sales in Poland. A service to a business in another EU country is taxed in the buyer’s country, and the buyer accounts for the VAT at home. That’s why art. 97 ust. 3 pkt 2 requires an exempt taxpayer who provides such services to register as an EU VAT taxpayer. From then on, it files VAT-UE for every month in which it provided such a service. A graphic designer from Kraków who designs a logo for an agency in Berlin reports that service in VAT-UE, even though they don’t pay VAT themselves.
The invoice for such a client has no Polish VAT; it carries the words „odwrotne obciążenie” (reverse charge) and the buyer’s EU VAT number. The rules of the exemption and its threshold are covered in the article on the VAT exemption.
Ordering a service from an EU business is usually a VAT-exempt JDG’s first contact with EU VAT. Register before you provide your first service or buy your first foreign service, not after the fact.
For WNT an exempt taxpayer has a threshold: as long as the value of goods acquired from the EU does not exceed PLN 50,000 in a year, there is no WNT for them (art. 10 ust. 1 pkt 2). They pay the seller’s country’s VAT on the invoice and don’t file VAT-UE. Above the threshold they account for Polish VAT on the acquisition in the VAT-8 return and report the acquisitions in VAT-UE.
How to register as an EU VAT taxpayer
Registration is form VAT-R (VAT registration). If you’re already registered as an active or exempt VAT payer, you file an update of it. You do this before your first intra-EU transaction: at the tax office (urząd skarbowy), by post, or electronically through biznes.gov.pl or e-Urząd Skarbowy (the tax office’s online portal). Registration is free.
After registering, you use your EU VAT number: it’s your NIP (the tax identification number) preceded by the code PL, for example PL1234567890. You give this number on invoices to EU businesses and pass it on to your foreign suppliers.
VIES is the European Commission’s search tool in which you check whether your counterparty’s VAT number is active. Do it before the first invoice to a new EU client: VAT-UE requires the buyer’s „właściwego i ważnego” (correct and valid) number (art. 100 ust. 8).
When to file VAT-UE and in what form
- Every month, even if you settle VAT quarterly.
- By the 25th of the month following the month in which the tax point for the transaction arose.
- Electronically only: the VAT-UE form is available on podatki.gov.pl and you sign it with Profil Zaufany (the state’s free trusted e-identity), authorisation data or a qualified signature.
- No nil returns: in a month with no intra-EU transactions you file nothing.
Which month to choose is decided by the tax point. For services it arises, as a rule, when the service is performed. For WDT it arises when the invoice is issued, at the latest on the 15th of the month after the month of supply (art. 20 ust. 1). Goods shipped on 28 March and invoiced on 3 April therefore go into the VAT-UE for April, filed by 25 May.
What VAT-UE contains
For each counterparty separately you give their VAT number with the two-letter country code and the total value of transactions in the month: supplies, acquisitions or services. You don’t enter individual invoices or VAT amounts.
A late or wrong VAT-UE: correction and consequences
An error in a filed summary you fix with a correction on form VAT-UEK, without delay once you find it, and also electronically only (art. 101). The correction covers the period the error concerns, not the current month.
Being late is a fiscal petty offence. Not filing the summary on time, or filing it in a form other than electronic, is punishable, under art. 80a § 2 of the Fiscal Penal Code (KKS), by a fine for a fiscal petty offence. Untruth in the summary is treated more seriously: giving untrue information or concealing the truth can bring a fine of up to 240 daily rates (art. 80a § 1).
If you’re already late, file the overdue VAT-UE as soon as possible and consider a czynny żal (voluntary disclosure of a tax offence, which avoids the penalty; art. 16 of the KKS), that is, notifying the tax office of the delay before it finds it itself. How to file one is covered in the article on czynny żal.
VAT-UE and JPK_V7 are separate obligations. An active VAT payer reports the same transaction in both, and a VAT-exempt JDG that provides services to EU businesses files only VAT-UE. Sending one doesn’t replace the other.
VAT OSS: sales to consumers in other EU countries
VAT-UE concerns transactions with businesses. When you sell to consumers in other EU countries, according to biznes.gov.pl different rules apply. They cover two kinds of sales:
- intra-EU distance sales of goods, for example from an online shop shipping to customers in the Czech Republic or France;
- telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services to EU consumers, for example an online course, an e-book or an app.
The €10,000 threshold
What decides is the total value of these two kinds of sales to all EU countries together, excluding VAT: €10,000 a year, converted by statute for a Polish seller to PLN 42,000 (art. 22a and 28k of the VAT Act). The current and the previous year count.
| Sales to EU consumers in the year | Where it’s taxed | How to settle |
|---|---|---|
| up to PLN 42,000 | in Poland, like a domestic sale | like a domestic sale or, by choice, in the consumer’s country |
| above PLN 42,000 | in the consumer’s country, from the transaction that crossed it | VAT registration in each of those countries or the OSS procedure |
Below the threshold you can voluntarily choose the consumer’s country’s VAT, for example to settle everything the same way through the OSS.
How the OSS procedure works
According to podatki.gov.pl, the EU OSS procedure (One Stop Shop) saves you registering for VAT in every consumer’s country. Instead:
- You file the VIU-R notification electronically with the head of the Drugi Urząd Skarbowy Warszawa-Śródmieście (the Second Tax Office Warsaw-Śródmieście). Since 1 February 2025 you can do it through e-Urząd Skarbowy, without a qualified signature.
- You add the consumer’s country’s VAT rate to the sale, for example the Czech rate to a parcel sent to Brno.
- Every quarter you file the VIU-DO return by the end of the month following the quarter, that is, by 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January. The deadline holds even when the last day falls on a Saturday or a public holiday.
- The return is in euros. You convert amounts in other currencies at the European Central Bank’s rate on the last day of the quarter.
- You pay the VAT in euros into the tax office’s account by the same deadline. In the transfer title you give the return’s reference number.
You also file a nil return for a quarter with no sales. You fix an error in one of the following returns, at the latest within 3 years of the deadline for filing the wrong one (art. 130c ust. 5a). You keep the record of transactions covered by the OSS for 10 years from the end of the year.
OSS and the VAT exemption
The OSS procedure doesn’t change your status in Poland. biznes.gov.pl says plainly that exceeding the €10,000 threshold „nie wpływa jednak na status podatnika VAT w Polsce” (does not, however, affect your VAT status in Poland). You can stay on the small-business VAT exemption as long as your domestic sales don’t exceed PLN 240,000. Distance sales taxed abroad don’t count towards that threshold (art. 113 ust. 2 pkt 1).
The VAT exemption isn’t available when selling some goods online: cosmetics, computers, electronics, electrical devices, and machinery and equipment (art. 113 ust. 13). An online shop selling electronics is an active VAT payer from its first sale, regardless of the OSS.
Frequently asked questions
VAT-UE: what is it in one sentence?
A monthly summary of sales to and purchases from businesses in other EU countries, filed electronically by the 25th of the following month.
Is VAT-UE the same as a VAT return?
No. You settle VAT in JPK_V7M or JPK_V7K (if you're exempt, in VAT-8 or VAT-9M), and VAT-UE only lists transactions with EU counterparties. How to send JPK_V7 is covered in the article on JPK_VAT.
I settle VAT quarterly. Do I file VAT-UE quarterly too?
No, VAT-UE is always monthly.
If I sell to a business outside the EU, for example in the United Kingdom, do I file VAT-UE?
No. VAT-UE covers only counterparties from EU countries.
Does the OSS replace VAT-UE?
No, they're two different obligations. The OSS concerns consumers, VAT-UE businesses. A shop that sells to both consumers and businesses in the EU can have both.
A number checked in VIES before the invoice and VAT-UE sent by the 25th: that’s all it takes for trade within the EU to stay calm.
💜💙 Your BravoLisa Team
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. Every situation is different — consult a qualified professional (tax adviser, accountant, or lawyer) for advice specific to your circumstances. BravoLisa does not accept liability for decisions made based on this information.
Sources (8)
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- biznes.gov.pl — Rejestracja podatnika VAT UE
- biznes.gov.pl — Jak prawidłowo rozliczyć VAT
- podatki.gov.pl — Formularze VAT (VAT-UE, VAT-UEK, VAT-8, VAT-9M, VIU-R, VIU-DO)
- biznes.gov.pl — Jak rozliczać VAT od sprzedaży towarów i usług konsumentom z UE
- podatki.gov.pl — Punkt kompleksowej obsługi (OSS i IOSS)
- ISAP — Kodeks karny skarbowy, tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2025 poz. 633 (art. 16, 80a)
- Komisja Europejska — VIES, sprawdzanie numeru VAT