Goods purchased outside the European Union (for example in China, the United States, Türkiye or the United Kingdom) must be declared to customs, any duty must be paid and import VAT must be settled. VAT can be paid to the customs and tax office or, if the conditions in Article 33a of the VAT Act are met, reported in the JPK file so that no cash leaves at clearance. Below we explain what the amounts depend on, how to calculate the tax base and what to take care of before the first delivery.
Import or intra-Community acquisition: the whole procedure follows from this
What obligations an entrepreneur has is decided by the country from which the goods physically arrive, not the nationality of the seller.
- Goods from a third country (outside the EU) are an import. You need a customs declaration, an EORI number and calculations of duty and import VAT.
- Goods from another member state are an intra-Community acquisition of goods (WNT). There is no clearance or duty, and VAT is self-settled in the JPK on the basis of the supplier's invoice. Registration for EU transactions is required, as described in our article on VAT-UE registration.
A practical example: a Chinese manufacturer sends a pallet to a warehouse in Germany, where the goods are released for free circulation and only then move to Poland. The import takes place in Germany, while the Polish company usually settles WNT. It is worth mapping out such supply chains with an accountant before placing the order, because they determine in which country the customs and tax obligations arise.
Which amount is used as the import VAT base
Under Article 30b of the VAT Act the base is the customs value plus the duty due (and, for excise goods, also the excise). Additional costs — commissions, packaging, transport and insurance — are added to the base if they are not already included in the customs value, up to the first destination in Poland. That destination is the address on the waybill or other transport document; absent one, the place of first unloading in Poland.
The tax obligation arises when the customs debt arises, i.e. in a typical case on the day the declaration for release for free circulation is accepted.
Worked example
A company brings a batch of accessories from South Korea. The numbers are illustrative, and the duty rate is assumed since in reality it depends on the goods code:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Customs value (invoice price + freight to the EU border) | PLN 40,000 |
| Duty, assumed rate 4% | PLN 1,600 |
| Transport from the border to the warehouse in Poland | PLN 800 |
| VAT base | PLN 42,400 |
| Import VAT at 23% | PLN 9,752 |
It follows that VAT is calculated on the duty as well. Leaving the duty or the domestic transport out of the base is one of the most common reasons for post-clearance corrections.
Two ways to settle import VAT
Payment after clearance
Under the basic procedure the tax amount is shown on the customs declaration, and the importer has 10 days from being notified by the customs authority of the amount due to pay (Article 33(4)). The tax paid can then be deducted in the JPK on the basis of the customs document, but the money is tied up for several weeks. On large deliveries this hits cash flow noticeably.
Settlement in JPK under Article 33a
An active VAT taxpayer may report the output tax on import in the return for the period in which the obligation arose and, in the same JPK file, deduct it as input tax. The financial effect is usually neutral. The conditions as of October 2026 are:
- presenting the head of the customs and tax office with certificates (or declarations made under criminal liability), issued no earlier than 6 months before the import, that arrears to ZUS and in individual taxes do not exceed 3% of the amounts due, and confirming active VAT taxpayer status;
- filing customs declarations through a direct or indirect representative (for example a customs agency), unless the company holds authorised economic operator (AEO) status or a permit for the relevant customs simplifications.
The deadline is strict: if the tax is not reported in the return, a correction can be filed within 4 months counted from the month following that in which the tax obligation arose. After that time the taxpayer loses the right to this type of settlement for the given declaration and must pay the tax with interest; where the declaration is filed through a representative, the representative is jointly and severally liable with the importer.
Exchange rate and documents in the books
Invoices from suppliers outside the EU are usually in dollars or euro. For imports, conversion into złoty is made under the customs rules (Article 31a(3) of the VAT Act), not at the NBP rate of the previous day used in most transactions. The rates for determining customs value are published by NBP on the second-to-last Wednesday of the month and apply for the whole following calendar month; the tables are available on podatki.gov.pl.
Three groups of documents matter for the books: the supplier's invoice, the customs document confirming release for free circulation (a message from the customs system) and invoices for transport, insurance and customs-agency services. The duty increases the cost of acquisition of the goods, while the forwarder's and the customs agency's services are separate costs with their own VAT. For regular imports full accounting is useful, with FX differences and inventory levels in the mix.
Checklist before the first order
- EORI. Without an EORI number no customs declaration can be filed. A person can hold only one valid EORI number across the EU at any time, and it is issued by the customs administration of the state of establishment. In Poland, the application is made after opening an account on the PUESC platform. The rules are set out by the European Commission.
- Goods code. The duty rate, preferences and any bans are assigned to the code in the TARIC tariff, available in Poland via the ISZTAR system. It is worth fixing the code before negotiating the price, because a few percentage points of duty change the profitability of the shipment. In case of doubt you can apply for a binding tariff information.
- Product requirements. Food, cosmetics, toys, electronics or chemicals often require certificates, CE marking or sanitary inspection. Missing documents can stop the goods at the border.
- Delivery terms (Incoterms). These determine who pays freight and insurance and what enters the customs value.
- Customs agency and Article 33a. The power of attorney for the agency and the no-arrears certificates are best prepared in advance if VAT is to be settled in the JPK.
Small parcels and sales to EU consumers
Online shops bringing in small parcels from outside the EU should be aware of two rules. First, imports of goods (other than excise) in consignments with an actual value up to the equivalent of EUR 150 are VAT-exempt if VAT on the distance sale is declared under the IOSS procedure and the IOSS number is given at import. The EU one-stop-shop procedures are covered in more detail in our article on the VAT OSS procedure.
Second, the customs rules have changed. According to information from the National Revenue Administration (KAS), from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028 consignments with a total value up to EUR 150 settled under IOSS or sent by post are subject to a flat duty of EUR 3 per item in the consignment (details on the page on customs exemptions). The earlier duty exemption for such parcels has therefore ceased to apply, which must be factored into prices.
How Good Balance can help
We support companies importing goods from outside the EU: we check the conditions for settling VAT in JPK under Article 33a, post customs documents and FX differences and keep track of correction deadlines. We run full accounting for companies and entrepreneurs, and document sales of imported goods as part of our VAT-invoicing service.