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The tax office returned the VAT refund to the bank account, but the bank returned the transfer. The reason was that the entrepreneur did not have a split payment account with this bank. Is the bank’s operation correct? How should the bank proceed in such a situation? Can the tax office send a VAT refund to my account without a split payment?

INFOR BIZNES journalist’s inquiry:

Please kindly answer the question below. It concerns a woman who runs a business for VAT purposes, but does not run it for PIT purposes.

This woman was entitled to a VAT refund. The tax office returned it to the bank account of PKO BP, but the bank returned the transfer. The reason mentioned was that the woman did not have a split payment account with that bank.

It seemed odd that the tax office refunds the VAT, and the bank itself decides whether the taxpayer will receive the refund or not. It ended up with the bank saying: let the tax office describe this transfer differently than a VAT refund. Then we won’t send it back.

Is the bank’s operation correct? How should the bank proceed in such a situation? Can the tax office send a VAT refund to my account without a split payment? How should the tax office behave in such a situation of VAT return – should it do it in accordance with the bank’s recommendation? How is the taxpayer to recover money from VAT?

The answer of the Ministry of Finance:

Based on the information provided, we are unable to make an objective and comprehensive assessment of a specific, individual situation.

It is worth noting, however, that the tax office does not know whether the taxpayer has a VAT account or not. Taxpayers running a business are required to have a settlement/company account for which a bank automatically opens a VAT account.

Referring to the situation presented above, it can be presumed that the lack of a VAT account is due to the lack of a bank account indicated for the purposes of running a business. The obligation to report and update the bank account rests with the taxpayer.

If the tax office had made a refund to the VAT account, and the taxpayer had not had such an account, the bank’s action is justified. The bank could not enter the funds to the VAT account, so it returned the money.

Regarding the question about the behaviour of the tax office in the event of a funds refund, we would like to inform you that in problematic cases, tax offices contact taxpayers and explain the reasons for the irregularities.

source: eureka.mf.gov.pl

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