What changes in finance and VAT will be in force since 2018? The year 2018 will bring a lot of changes for Polish entrepreneurs. The Ministry of Finance has decided to Ucyfrowić taxes. It would seem that every past year is a huge change in digitisation, but only 2018 will be a decisive moment. This not only makes it easier for authorities and taxpayers, but also the consequences of obligations for taxpayers. What must taxpayers expect from the coming year? 
A single control file will apply to all and soon all structures.
The digitisation of reporting to the Ministry of Finance has already started in 2016. The requirements, which were then in force, concerned large companies, small and medium-sized enterprises in 2017. The reporting obligations of all commercial activities, ranging from VAT, ledger entries, bank accounts, sales, and ending with stock movements, have gradually been introduced. However, for not all three months, this obligation will also apply to micro-entrepreneurs. They also will have to reckon with the need to transmit a single control file to the Ministry of Finance. From 1 January 2018, they will have to send JPK in respect of the VAT purchase and sales records. In July 2018, small and medium-sized companies, as well as micro-enterprises, will have to pass on demand in the form of JPK all m.in data. From: Accounting books, bank statements, inventory evidence, VAT invoices and simplified records. At the request of the tax authority, they will also have to transfer those JPK structures. This is important because the consequences of errors in the JPK or their non-submission may be recognised as a tax offense with a fine of 20 times the minimum wage (i.e. in 2017 to 40 thousand zł), and the penalties for acts considered as tax crimes are from 10-120 Daily Rates (where the daily rate can range from 1/30 minimum wage up to 400 times). Everything can be done with a specialized module offered by Hogart. This module is nothing but a specialized application that allows advanced control of the process of validating the data, trial processing and generation of data in the expected file format JPK and full archiving of messages. The application also controls the full shipping process with the download and the possibility of printing and archiving UPO. It is worth noting that this application is compatible with many ERP programs, due to its modular design can also easily be connected to literally any system.
It is necessary to verify counterparties in order to have due diligence.
JPK is just the beginning of the changes. The digitisation of the Ministry of Finance is also intended to verify whether the entity we work with is VAT active. Quite a common plea from the tax authorities when paying VAT is precisely the lack of verification of our counterparty in this respect. The provisions clearly require VAT taxpayers to have due diligence. In this case, this means that the taxable person's willingness to recover the input VAT must be carried out after the entity has been verified beforehand. Verification is done on the basis of the tin, manually on the Internet at the Ministry of Finance. In a situation where several counterparties are to be checked – this is not a problem. The Problem arises, however, when we have to check many of them, then manual verification is too laborious. It should also be borne in mind that verification should be duly documented for possible control, and manual verification also does not give us such possibilities. These needs, introduced by the Ministry of Finance, have made new software on the market, facilitating automatic verifications. Private companies like Hogart offer the possibility of using the program Hogart active taxpayer VAT. Thanks to the specialized software, there is a possibility of quick and hassle-free verification of tin numbers. This is a major facilitation for entrepreneurs cooperating with many companies. The most important thing, however, is that the program maintains a complete history of the verifications carried out, so we have a proper diligence on the control of the tax authorities and thus minimize the risk of not recovering VAT. It is worth mentioning that the full version of the software in question is a full machine, which can run spontaneously by a defined schedule or as a result of a specific action in the system such as. Invoicing to the system or a new counterparty.
Split payment mechanism – a facility or obstacle for taxpayers?
Another particularly important change in the scope of the Ucyfrowienia is the split payment mechanism, also referred to as the Split payment, which will be valid from April 1, 2018. This means that every taxable person who receives a VAT invoice will have the opportunity to decide whether it pays as far as possible. Through a traditional bank transfer or using the method of a separate payment. For an invoice issuer, this means, among other things, that it will not affect the type of payment method that the customer chooses. The accession of a divided payment is voluntary, but the entities that decide on it are able to count on the enormous advantages associated with this system. One of the advantages is that traders using Split Payment will not be sanctioned by the VAT act and so on. Solidarity responsibility. However, the most important advantage is the fast VAT refund path, which has been within 25 days. The split payment mechanism itself assumes that the net amount of the invoice received will affect the existing company account and the VAT amount to the additional bank account. Apart from the pros for taxpayers, it is worth noting one, quite significant minus-the introduction of this method will entail the blocking of VAT receipts on additional accounts, which can consequently lead to a decrease in the liquidity of enterprises. The VAT account holder using the split payment method will have a limited ability to use m.in. He will be able to make a payment to the tax office or to pay VAT to another counterparty, but he will not be able to dispose of the funds gathered on NIN in any way. In order to avoid financial liquidity problems, it is worthwhile to conduct a reasonable financial analysis of liquidity, i.e. Revenue and expenditure. Professional analysis of the situation of our company can be carried out by specialists from Hogart Company with the company firm, which will allow to prepare for changes and adjust the appropriate mechanisms that protect the company from loss of liquidity. The introduction of Split Payment will also entail changes to IT systems, particularly in the field of electronic banking. Split payment requires changes to the payment process and to the posting of bank statements. A split payment method payment will require you to select a dedicated message and provide both gross and VAT values, plus an invoice number and a counterparty identification number. So far, paying the FK/ERP system has generated less information to the bank, i.e. Gross value and description of transactions by trader's decision. Let us remember that changes made by the Ministry of Finance but other bodies are important changes for any company. It is very important to keep them up-to-date – their ignorance may be associated with unpleasant consequences for the company. It is worth thinking about the thematic trainings, offered jointly by the companies Hogart and BDO, which in depth analyze the subject not only on the legal side but also complex in technical-it. Each training discusses in detail the planned changes that have been mentioned as regards the changes in VAT since 2018 and identifies the areas of the company's activities which will be affected by the process and IT sides.