Must importation of services always be for consideration?

Polish businesses sometimes purchase services from foreign providers free of charge. It is a common practice not to recognise such transactions for VAT purposes.

In accordance with the VAT Act, a taxable person includes also a legal person receiving services from a taxable person who neither is a resident of Poland nor has a fixed establishment or permanent address or stay there. Thus, businesses buying services from foreign providers must generally account for VAT on these transactions (called “importation of services”).

For the full text of the article by tax advisor Monika Bilska, see Rzeczpospolita on-line, Dobra Firma weekly or here.