Empty invoices – how not to get caught up in crime

Many Polish taxpayers are convinced that the issue of issuing empty invoices does not concern them at all. They assume that since they do not knowingly participate in such practices, they cannot be held liable for them. Unfortunately, in many cases, they are living under a false sense of security.

In practice, it is very difficult to distinguish between fraud involving empty invoices and a series of unfortunate events that can affect any entrepreneur.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely avoid the risk of becoming involved in this type of crime. However, certain measures can be taken to reduce this risk at least somewhat. The basic measure is to introduce an internal procedure for documenting every transaction exceeding a certain amount. The aim is to collect as many documents as possible confirming its execution. Unfortunately, it is not enough to have only an invoice and a confirmation of the transfer of remuneration.

Another issue to keep in mind is to verify your contractors before entering into cooperation. This applies primarily to new entities that are not known on the market and, for example, offer surprisingly favorable terms for the sale of a particular product.

Unfortunately, in practice, many taxpayers ignore certain warning signs when conducting transactions, which then forces them to explain the circumstances of those transactions to the tax authorities. Of course, the above advice does not completely eliminate this risk, but it does minimize it to some extent.

It is also worth noting that, unfortunately, taxpayers often downplay the initiation of tax proceedings against them. They are convinced that these proceedings only concern tax issues. They often assume that they will only need a professional representative at the stage of appealing against the authority’s decision. Meanwhile, materials from tax proceedings are usually included in the files of subsequent criminal tax cases. As a result, it often happens that criminal proceedings actually begin at the tax case stage. Unfortunately, this means that seeking the assistance of a lawyer too late leads to evidence being obtained that is unfavorable to the taxpayer in both criminal and tax cases.

Full article is available in Polish here.