Do you shop online? The tax office may require you to pay tax

Purchase transactions involving larger amounts may entail tax liability. And that is on the buyer's side. It is enough to purchase a used smartphone or household appliances for over PLN 1,000 from a private person for the tax office to have the right to demand payment of PCC tax. And the tax office has increasingly effective verification tools today.

More and more Poles are buying used items online. According to the PMR report for Allegro Lokalnie "Second-hand items market in Poland", in 2023 as many as 75% of Poles bought used items on OLX, Vinted or Allegro Lokalnie. However, few buyers realize that if they buy something from a private person and the value of this transaction exceeds PLN 1,000 , they are required to pay tax on civil law transactions (PCC).

The tax obligation arises at the time of conclusion of the sales agreement and applies to the buyer, not the seller. The PCC tax rate is 2 percent of the market value of the item . In practice, this means that when buying, for example, a used smartphone for PLN 1,500, you have to pay PLN 30 of tax to the tax office.

Until recently, detecting an untaxed transaction between individuals was difficult for the tax office. However, in 2023, the EU DAC7 directive was implemented in Poland , which requires operators of sales platforms to transfer user data and details of their transactions to the tax administration.

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This data includes, among others:

• name and surname
• address
• Seller ID Number
• total sales value
• number of transactions

Thanks to this, the tax authorities can efficiently analyze the activity of both sellers and buyers.

The PCC tax must be reported to the office within 14 days of purchase . The PCC-3 form is used for this purpose, available in electronic version via the e-Tax Office.

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Failure to report and settle the debt may be treated as a fiscal offence , and in the case of higher amounts, even as a crime. The office may also charge interest and apply financial sanctions.

The following purchases are exempt from PCC tax:

• from companies where the buyer receives a VAT invoice
• between members of the immediate family
• worth up to PLN 1,000

It is worth remembering, however, that in the case of sets or several items sold together, the total amount of the transaction counts. This means that even seemingly small purchases can cumulatively exceed the tax threshold.