KSeF is a central system for issuing, receiving, and storing invoices in a uniform format. The risk of KSeF failure, including the suspension of invoicing, would pose a strategic threat to the entire country.
The Ministry of Finance took this risk into account and proposed:
- basic online mode,
- 4 offline modes – 3 of which are based on offline KSeF mechanisms:
- Offline24 (used when needed by the taxpayer),
- Offline unavailability (planned unavailability of KSeF – e.g. due to IT maintenance)
- Offline failure (KSeF failure),
- Offline total failure – in the event of cataclysms, i.e. states of emergency, war, it allows invoicing in any format (paper, electronic).
Each of these defines the rules for issuing and sending invoices, making them available to the buyer, and using QR codes. The table below presents their details and our practical suggestions.
- Invoicing modes in KSEF
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*The lack of an account in KSeF is understood as a situation when the buyer does not have a Tax Identification Number at all or acts in a capacity other than the one for which the Tax Identification Number (NIP) or permanent place of performance is assigned in Poland.
- Key practical challenges
- The issue of invoice attachments
In practice, only a few taxpayers will be able to send attachments via the KSeF system. Only data necessary for tax purposes (in terms of units of measurement and the quantity (number) of goods or services delivered, or net unit prices) will be accepted in attachments – which will primarily apply to businesses in the telecommunications, energy, gas, and other industries.
In particular, in KSeF, attachments will not be allowed to include documents of a typically commercial, marketing and purely business nature, i.e. price lists, contracts, acceptance protocols or warranty terms.
Moreover, to send attachments, it will be necessary to submit a notification to the Head of the National Tax Administration via the e-Tax Office and obtain consent valid for only two years, which the tax office may withdraw in the event of taxpayer irregularities.
Conclusions – consider today how to send attachments to contractors outside of KSeF (e-mail, paper, cloud), adapt processes and ensure that contractors are informed.
- Expenses incurred by the employee
Employee expenses at KSeF are becoming more difficult to settle because the employee no longer receives an invoice in person – only a visual representation of it, a confirmation of the transaction – and it may be that, in accordance with the law, he or she leaves without any document received on site.
The invoice will be sent directly to the employer's KSeF, but it may be without information about which employee it concerns, because although the KSeF provides a field specifying "third party," completing it is voluntary for the invoice issuer. This means there's a risk that accounting must independently determine who incurred the expense, and employees must also declare that a given invoice is "theirs." As a result, settling business trips and expenses can be more time-consuming if you don't implement changes—for example, introduce personalized employee cards.
- Invoices mistakenly sent to the wrong entities and received incorrect invoices
In the KSeF, an error regarding the NIP results in the invoice being received by another entity – as a result:
- on the sales side, we may issue an invoice to an entity that does not pay for it, and the relevant entity may delay its payment – especially when the payment deadline is linked to the invoice issue date.
- on the purchasing side, there may be a risk of accounting, deducting VAT and including invoices from other entities in tax costs, which may lead to tax and penal-fiscal liability.
If you are wondering how your company should prepare for the new obligations and procedures arising from the KseF, we encourage you to contact our law firm.
