Polish VAT Deduction Requires Proof That Advisory Services Were Actually Supplied

Summary 

• A construction company seeking input VAT deduction must substantiate what it actually received under cost estimates, consultations or construction-support services.

• The taxpayer must demonstrate a connection between those supplies and its taxable activity, but does not have to prove that the investment would have been impossible without the adviser.

• The distinction places the evidentiary focus on performance and business use rather than on proving absolute necessity.

Extended article 

Polish VAT deduction for advisory and support services depends on evidence that the invoiced services were genuinely performed. The cited commentary concerns services such as cost estimates, consultations and construction support and stresses that a general invoice description or contract is not enough where the authority questions the underlying supply.

The taxpayer should be able to demonstrate what deliverables, analyses, meetings, recommendations or support were received and how those outputs relate to taxable business activity. Appropriate evidence may include reports, calculations, correspondence, meeting records, versions of project documents and proof that the work was used in the investment or operations.

At the same time, the taxpayer does not need to establish that the investment could not have proceeded without the adviser. VAT deduction requires a link with taxable activity and proof of a real supply, not proof that the service was indispensable. The available source does not identify the relevant judgment or case number.

Source 

• Rzeczpospolita: VAT Deduction Requires Proof of Service Performance, Not Its Necessity
• Polish Ministry of Finance: VAT Rules, Reliefs and Deductions
• Aider: VAT Deduction for Accounting and Professional Services in Poland

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