From 1 January 2017, the cash payment limit between entrepreneurs in Poland will change.

Entrepreneurs will be obliged to settle liabilities related to their business activities through a payment account whenever the value of a single transaction exceeds the limit of 15,000 Polish zloty; regardless of the number of payments. The current limit is €15,000.

The new regulation also applies to transactions in foreign currencies which, for the purposes of limit calculation, will be converted into Polish zloty using the average exchange rate announced by the National Bank of Poland on the last business day preceding the day of the transaction (art. 22 of Freedom of Business Activity Act).

Penalties

According to the current regulations, there are no penalties for violating the limit in domestic transactions. Where the transactions are in foreign currencies or involve non-residents, there is a risk of a breach of the foreign exchange law, which involves the penal and fiscal liability (Art. 106J Penal & Fiscal Code).

The amendment of the Act introduced – also effective 1 January 2017 – a sanction for violation of the obligation to make payments through a payment account. Under the new regime, taxpayers making payments exceeding the limit of PLN 15,000 without the use of a payment account will not be entitled to recognise the incurred cash expense as a tax deductible cost (Art. 22p Income Personal Income Tax, Article 15d of Corporate Income Tax).

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.