VAT-UE for Eldercare Services and Foreign Agencies in Poland — Sales vs Import of Services

Cooperation between a Polish care business and a foreign agency may involve two opposite transactions:

1. You provide a service to the agency — this is a sale of a service.
2. The agency provides an intermediation service to you and charges a commission — this is a purchase that may constitute an import of services.

These situations cannot be accounted for in the same way. The fact that a payment comes from Germany or an invoice is issued without VAT does not determine the type of transaction.

Check the Contract First

Establish:

• who is the service provider and who is the customer,
• who pays whom,
• whether the agency buys the care service from you,
• whether the agency merely acts as an intermediary and invoices you for a commission,
• who is the actual recipient of the care,
• where the care is provided,
• whether the counterparty conducts business and has an active EU VAT number.

One contract may cover both directions: your sale of care services and your purchase of an intermediation service.

When You Invoice a Foreign Agency

If a German agency is a taxable person and buys a B2B service from a Polish sole proprietorship, the place of supply must be determined. The general rule in Art. 28b of the Polish VAT Act applies to many services — the place of taxation is the customer's country.

In this scenario, the Polish service provider usually:

• registers for VAT-UE before providing the first service covered by the obligation,
• issues an invoice without Polish VAT and with the appropriate note if the conditions are met,
• reports the service in the VAT-UE recapitulative statement,
• includes the transaction in the appropriate records or return according to their VAT status.

For the Polish business, this is a sale of a service, not an import of services.

Not every service connected with care automatically falls under Art. 28b. The actual nature of the service and the customer's status may be relevant.

When the Foreign Agency Charges a Commission

If the agency provides you with intermediation, advertising, platform access, or another B2B service, the Polish sole proprietorship may have an import of services.

The Polish customer then:

• accounts for output VAT under the import-of-services rules,
• may be required to register for VAT-UE before acquiring the service,
• files the appropriate settlement document depending on its VAT status.

An active VAT taxpayer generally accounts for the import in JPK_V7. A taxpayer benefiting from a VAT exemption may have to file VAT-9M and pay the tax.

VAT-9M Does Not Always Produce a Zero Balance

A VAT-exempt taxpayer cannot automatically deduct the output VAT due on an import of services. The right to deduct depends on the purchase's connection with taxable activities and on meeting the other conditions.

If the commission serves only VAT-exempt activities, there is generally no right to deduct. The output VAT reported in VAT-9M may therefore be a real amount payable.

VAT-9M is filed for the period in which the obligation to account for the relevant transaction arose. It is not a return filed with zero values every month merely because the business has a VAT-UE number.

VAT-UE Recapitulative Statement

The VAT-UE recapitulative statement is not used to report every import of services.

A Polish service provider may report services supplied to an EU taxable person for which the customer accounts for the tax, provided the statutory conditions are met. A purchase of a commission service from a foreign agency is not reported as such a sale.

VAT-UE recapitulative statements are filed electronically for monthly periods. Old guides describing quarterly VAT-UE statements are out of date.

Registration through VAT-R

Registration for intra-EU transactions is made on form VAT-R. The relevant part of the form depends on whether the entrepreneur:

• supplies services to EU taxable persons,
• acquires services to which Art. 28b applies,
• makes intra-EU supplies or acquisitions of goods (WDT or WNT),
• is an active VAT taxpayer or benefits from an exemption.

VAT-UE registration alone does not automatically mean losing a small-business or activity-based VAT exemption for domestic sales.

The VAT Exemption for Care Services Is Not Automatic

Not every service described as “eldercare” qualifies for an exemption under Art. 43 of the VAT Act. Relevant factors include:

• the precise scope of the service,
• the entity providing it,
• the customer's status,
• the place of supply,
• the provision on which the exemption is based.

A VAT-UE analysis should not begin with the assumption that every care business is exempt from VAT without a turnover limit.

The Booking.com Ruling

An individual ruling concerning the commission charged by a foreign booking portal may confirm that the property owner imports an intermediation service. It does not prove, however, that remuneration paid to a carer by a foreign agency is an import of services.

In the first case, the Polish business buys the platform's service. In the second, it may sell its own service to the agency. The direction of the supply is reversed.

An individual ruling protects only its addressee and only where the facts match those described in the application.

Example 1: Selling Care Services to an Agency

A Polish sole proprietorship provides a service to a German agency. The agency pays the Polish business EUR 3,000.

This is revenue of the Polish sole proprietorship from the sale of a service. If Art. 28b applies, the invoice may be issued without Polish VAT and the transaction may be reportable in VAT-UE. It is not an import of services by the Polish business.

Example 2: Agency Commission

A Polish sole proprietorship receives an invoice from the agency for EUR 300 for intermediation.

This is a purchase of a service. If the place of supply is determined under Art. 28b, the Polish business accounts for an import of services. If it is VAT-exempt, it may have to file VAT-9M and pay tax without a right to deduct it.

Most Common Mistakes

Treating Every Payment from an Agency as an Import

An import arises when the Polish business buys a service. A payment received for its own service is a sale.

NIP-7 Instead of VAT-R

VAT-R is used for VAT-UE registration. NIP-7 does not replace this filing.

Deducting VAT in VAT-9M as an Exempt Taxpayer

VAT-9M does not automatically create a right to deduct. For exempt activities, tax on the import may be an economic cost.

Quarterly VAT-UE Statements

Recapitulative statements are filed monthly and electronically.

Confusing Reverse Charge with Self-Billing

Reverse charge determines who accounts for VAT. Self-billing means that the customer issues an invoice on behalf of the seller. They are separate mechanisms.

What to Check before the First Invoice

1. The contract and the actual flow of services.
2. The counterparty's status in VIES.
3. The place of supply of each service.
4. The basis for any exemption of care services.
5. The VAT-R and VAT-UE obligations.
6. Whether the transaction belongs in JPK_V7, VAT-9M, or the VAT-UE recapitulative statement.
7. Whether VAT on the imported commission service may be deducted.

Sources

• Podatki.gov.pl — intra-EU transactions and VAT-UE
• Biznes.gov.pl — VAT-UE registration
• Podatki.gov.pl — VAT-9M form
• VAT Act: Arts. 28b, 43, 86, 97, 99, and 100

Need Your Agency Contract Checked?

I provide accounting for Polish sole proprietorships working internationally — from PLN 49 + VAT per month. Before the first settlement, we separately identify sales of services and purchases of commission services.

Reply to [email protected] or visit oxyok.com/pl.

Note: The result depends on the contract and the actual course of the transaction. The label “care agency” alone does not determine whether there is an import of services or a VAT exemption.