The purchase and sale of EU goods is carried out within the framework of supply (wewnątrzwspólnotowa dostawa towarów, WDT) and acquisition (wewnątrzwspólnotowa nabycie towarów, WNT) procedures. Their conditions are considered below.

Intra-EU supply of goods, wewnątrzwspólnotowa dostawa towarów (WDT) is the transport of own goods of a Polish taxpayer to another EU member state or the transfer of the right to dispose of the goods, as a result of which the goods are also exported from Poland to another EU member state.

Such a supply is not subject to VAT for the Polish taxpayer, but he/she is entitled to deduct VAT, the amount of input tax on the purchase of goods and services related to such supply. WDT is subject to tax (VAT) at a rate of 0%, provided that:

• The supply takes place to a VAT payer in the EU, and
• The goods were exported from Poland to the territory of another EU country, which is confirmed by transport documents, delivery notes, specifications of cargo items, and an act of acceptance of the goods by the buyer.

The person responsible for paying VAT under WDT is the EU buyer, for whom the transaction represents the purchase of intra-EU goods (WNT) in his/her country at the national VAT rate.

The tax liability for the supply of goods within the EU (WDT) arises from the moment of issuing the invoice confirming these transactions, but no later than the 15th day of the month following the delivery of the goods. In the VAT return, the value of WDT should be reflected in the item of supplies of goods within the EU only as a tax base. If the conditions for applying the 0% rate are not met, transactions should be recorded as domestic sales.

Related export procedures, direct and indirect, should be taken into account. In the first case, the export is carried out from a company in Poland, in the second it is carried out by the buyer or a representative on his/her behalf, registered outside the country. In the first case the rate is 23%, in the second – 0%.

The acquisition of goods within the EU, wewnątrzwspólnotowe nabycie towarów (WNT), involves the transfer of the right to dispose of goods as the owner, which are transported from an EU member state to Poland. WNT also includes the transport of own goods from an EU member state to Poland. The buyer pays VAT at the rates of goods (23% – 0%), and he/she also has the right to deduct it.

The tax liability for the purchase of goods within the EU (WNT) arises from the moment the invoice is issued confirming these transactions, but no later than the 15th day of the month following the delivery of the goods.

In the VAT return, the taxpayer indicates the amount received as a result of converting the currency value of the invoice as the tax base and reflects the VAT payable. The taxpayer is entitled to deduct this amount as input VAT on this return, provided that he/she provides the WNT invoice within 3 months from the end of the month in which the tax liability arose.

Thus, in order to deduct VAT charged when purchasing goods in the EU, the following conditions should be met:

• Display of VAT payable in the tax return, and
• Receive an invoice from the seller confirming delivery within the EU.

Subsequent receipt of a WNT invoice gives the taxpayer the opportunity to re-claim input tax on the current VAT return and receive a VAT refund on intra-EU purchases. Failure to receive an invoice within 3 months will result in the need to change the VAT deducted and reduce the amount of input tax. Therefore, when purchasing goods under WNT, delivery, invoice and receipt dates should be taken into account.

Advance payments received in WNT and WDT are neutral for VAT liability.

The purchase and sale of goods outside the EU occurs within the framework of export and import of goods. Current and detailed conditions for export, import, WDT and WNT are presented on government websites.