The surprising decision of the Minister of Finance postpone the mandatory National e-Invoice System (KSeF), which was supposed to take effect as early as July 1, 2024, has caused a stir. It turns out that currently the system contains numerous technical errors that could jeopardise the stability of business operations. For this reason, the decision has been taken to postpone its introduction. Should taxpayers be happy about the decision?

For several years now, there has been talk about a real revolution in invoicing to seal the VAT system and increase state budget revenues. Expectedly enough, the costs of this revolution will be borne by businesses, which are obliged to adapt their internal solutions to the new system. In fact, this involves a reorganisation of the entire accounting system, entailing both financial and time costs.

The new obligation was supposed to come into force on July 1, 2024. It is not surprising that some business owners have already made some arrangements to be able to implement the new system in their businesses. Now they are apprehensive that their work to date will be wasted, as new technical or legal requirements may be introduced.

Readers will remember that that the Minister of Finance announced at a press briefing in January that the KSeF, which is considered necessary for the Polish economy, will not be abandoned. Representatives of the Ministry reassure that work on improving the system will not start from scratch and the system will not be significantly different from the current version. The Ministry is aware that some companies have already put considerable effort and resources into preparing to use the system, so it will try to keep the necessary work to a minimum. What should businesses do? Should they stop the work and wait for the results of the audit?

There is really no one right answer, because as we know very well, our legislator can surprise us. However, it is unlikely in this case. The implementation of KSeF in companies is a very complex process that requires a lot of time and attention. Businesses which have not yet started implementing any measures or have just started reviewing their accounting processes should continue them. The external audit announced by the Ministry is to focus only on technical aspects, so companies can continue to operate at this stage, as they will certainly use the results of their work so far in the future. The additional time can be used, for example, to review their accounting, sales, purchasing and document flow processes. Regardless of the technical solutions that will be found in the final version of KSeF, this work should be done and will certainly help in the smooth implementation of the new system.

The case is more problematic for those businesses which are already at a more advanced stage, involving mainly adapting their systems to KSeF, as there may be some changes in this regard, but it is not yet known how dramatic they will be. The new deadline for the mandatory use of the KSeF is expected to be announced late April/early May, at which time we will know the results of the external audit. In the case of significant progress in the implementation of the KSeF, it may be reasonable to wait these few months to avoid incurring additional costs or having to do the same work twice.

Businesses should use this additional time in particular to acquaint themselves with the system in its current shape, train their staff and identify any shortcomings in order to act quickly and successfully when the new deadline for the mandatory use of the KSeF is announced. Doing nothing is certainly not a good solution and will only lead to unnecessary confusion and stress, which can be reduced by taking appropriate action.

Żaneta Zakrzewska, Tax Consultant, ATA Tax Sp. z o.o.

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