DAC7: ways of reporting information about sellers and registration of the platform operator

This article will answer the following questions:

• Will the information required by Polish tax authorities be provided by the platform operator on a specific form? 
• What information will the report submitted on the form contain?
• Who will be able to sign the form on behalf of the platform operator?

As the end of the second reporting period approaches, the deadline for platform operators to meet the first obligations in terms of reporting information on sellers imposed by the EU DAC7 directive is approaching. Unfortunately, however, little is known about how reporting is supposed to look in practice. Let's take a look at what we currently know about the fulfillment of reporting obligations by platform operators. What does the act on the exchange of tax information with other countries tell us and what information has the Ministry of Finance provided to taxpayers? 

Information subject to reporting obligations under the regulations implementing the DAC7 directive

Let us remind you that the platform operator is obliged to provide (by the end of the month following the end of the reporting period*) the Head of the National Tax Administration (Pol. KAS) with information that includes:

• identification data of the reporting platform operator,
• information regarding the excluded platform operator (in the form of information that the adopted platform business model does not include reportable sellers),
• identification data of the reportable seller, whether an individual or an entity,
• information on reportable sellers – other than sellers performing a relevant activity related to rental of immovable property,
• information about sellers performing the relevant activity related to rental of immovable property – separately for each property listing,
• data enabling the identification of the electronic identification service – in the case of using it in order to benefit from the exemption from the obligation to collect information about active sellers in the scope of identification data (excluding first and last name). 

* The reporting period runs from 1 January to 31 December of a given year. The first reporting period falls in 2023 and the second in 2024. The information submitted by 31 January 2025 will include both the first (2023) and second (2024) reporting periods, due to the later implementation of EU regulations and the retroactive effect of Polish regulations.

Registration of the platform operator submitting a report on sellers

A platform operator that is not a tax resident in a Member State – as well as a platform operator outside the EU that meets the conditions for being recognised as a reporting platform operator in Poland and another Member State at the same time – may choose Poland as the country in which it will fulfill the reporting obligations of a reporting platform operator. In the event of choosing another Member State, the entity is obliged to notify the Head of KAS of this choice by submitting a registration form. 

Both in the case of a one-off registration and submitting a notification of the selection of a Member State other than Poland, the entity subject to the reporting obligation under the DAC7 directive and the Act on the exchange of tax information with other countries is obliged to complete the registration form no later than on the day of commencement of activity as a platform operator. 

On the other hand, a platform operator that is not a tax resident in a Member State and meets the conditions for being recognised as a reporting EU platform operator both in Poland and in another Member State must notify the Head of the National Tax Administration about the selection of another Member State by 31 January of the year following the end of the reporting period in which it met one of the conditions for being recognised as a reporting EU platform operator.

The registration form contains information about the reporting platform operator and the representative authorised to sign information about sellers and corrections to the registration form. 

The Head of KAS issues an individual identification number to the platform operator for reporting purposes within 30 days of receiving a properly completed registration form.

How does the platform operator provide information about sellers to the Head of KAS?

By 1 July 2025, a regulation is to be issued that will specify the method of transmitting information about sellers using electronic means of communication in a form that ensures the security, reliability and non-repudiation of data contained in the information about sellers and takes into account the need to protect this report against unauthorised access. 

Until this solution comes into force, the regulation on the method of transmitting tax books by electronic means of communication and the technical requirements for IT data carriers on which these books may be recorded and transmitted shall apply to the method of reporting information on sellers. 

The Ministry of Finance has published on its website templates of electronic documents for submitting the registration form (DPI-FR(1)) and providing information about sellers (DPI-IS(1)), which will be sent in the form of XML files compliant with XSD schemes. To make sending these files possible, on 1 July 2024, the tax administration launched the production environment for platform operators. 

Files will be sent via the JPK gateway, which will also enable checking the correctness of the files.

As we were informed by the Ministry of Finance in response to questions asked by RSM Poland, before the deadline for submitting information on sellers (i.e. before 31 January 2025), a DPI-FR(1) and DPI-IS(1) file creator will be made available, as well as a tool by means of which platform operators will be able to send files to the Head of KAS without using API. 

A technical manual will also be available for correcting, supplementing and canceling seller information.

The information provided by the Ministry of Finance also indicates that the tools supporting platform operators will enable the transfer of files up to 100 MB in size.

Who is authorised to sign the form on behalf of the platform operator?

The registration form may be signed by a body authorised to represent the platform operator. However, it is not possible to sign the registration form by a proxy (an exception here is a power of attorney to sign a declaration submitted by electronic means of communication based on the provisions of the Tax Ordinance, in the scope of signing a tax declaration by a proxy).  

In the registration form, the platform operator may submit a statement authorising the proxy to sign information about sellers and corrections to the registration form. 

Due to the complex reporting procedures, the wide scope of information subject to reporting (which will cover 2 reporting periods) and the approaching deadline for fulfilling reporting obligations (31 January 2025), we recommend consulting an experienced tax advisor in this regard.

We would like to remind you that it is not worth putting off the implementation of procedures for providing information about sellers until the last minute - especially since the end of the year may be difficult for both platform operators and sellers themselves, among others due to the number of tax obligations that must be fulfilled at that time in other areas, resulting from changes in real estate tax regulations, for example.