July 18, 2017 / Law /

The legislator introduced an interesting instrument aimed at tightening the tax system in the areas of VAT and excise.

The Act of 9.3.2017 on the system of monitoring the road freight transport of goods determines the rules of monitoring the road transport of certain goods on and through the territory of Poland and liability for not observing them.

Entities transporting so-called sensitive goods are obliged to observe the Act, report such transport in the electronic register (the so-called SENT) and to supplement and update such a report.

The transport of sensitive goods is subject to the obligation of reporting in the SENT register kept by the Head of the National Tax Administration in the IT system via the PUESC Platform for Electronic Tax and Customs Services.

The Act contains a catalog of products considered “sensitive goods”, which are i.a. fuels, products containing ethyl alcohol (defrosters based on ethyl alcohol, diluents, and solvents), completely denatured ethyl alcohol and dried tobacco. The catalog of goods subject to the monitoring system may be extended through a regulation to the Act; in the present draft of the regulation, certain types of oils (e.g. soybean oil, sunflower oil, olive oil) and food products, i.e. margarine, would be subject to monitoring.

The Act requires the monitoring of shipments with sensitive goods above 500 kg of weight or 500 liters of volume. The reporting obligation will not, however, pertain to the transport of certain goods in small unit packages, even if the total mass or volume of the consignment exceeds the above-mentioned limits.

The obligation to report the transport and its update was imposed on three types of entities: the sending entity, the receiving entity and the carrier.

In the case of non-compliance with the obligation to report or reporting incorrect data, a monetary penalty in the amount of 46% of the net worth of the goods subject to compulsory reporting shall be imposed on the sending entity or receiving entity respectively, not less than PLN 20,000. Also, a driver who does not have the relevant documents and the reference number of the shipment will be subject to a fine.

Penalties will not be imposed for the period from its entry into force until 1.5.2017, which is to allow entities involved in the transport of goods to implement the new regulations.