E-receipt is a modern solution with numerous advantages. The entrepreneur, with the consent of the consumer, may provide him with an e-receipt, i.e. a fiscal receipt in electronic form. The possibility of issuing e-receipts is provided for taxpayers using virtual cash registers and online cash registers. This solution makes it easier for taxpayers who keep records using cash registers, especially for taxpayers who sell remotely.
What is an e-receipt?
E-receipt is an electronic form of a traditional receipt. When purchasing, the seller sends the receipt electronically instead of printing it (e.g. to the e-mail address provided by the buyer). E-receipts are fully-fledged, honored proofs of payment. They can, for example, serve as proof of purchase when returning the goods, or be attached to letters of complaint. E-receipts are a convenient form because you do not need to collect and store paper receipts. Electronic receipts can be kept e.g. on an e-mail, on a disc or in the so-called cloud and download them whenever you need them.
When can an e-receipt be issued?
It should be pointed out that making sales to natural persons who do not conduct business activity requires recording this event at the cash register. This obligation results directly from the wording of Art. 111 sec. 1 of the VAT Act. If the service or goods are purchased by an entity other than those listed in Art. 111 sec. 1, the taxpayer is not required to record such sales using the cash register. Thus, this obligation will not occur in the case of sales to companies, enterprises, organizations.
According to the current wording of Article 111 sec. 3a (1) of the VAT Act, taxpayers keeping records of sales using cash registers are required to issue and give to the purchaser a fiscal receipt or invoice of each sale:
- in paper form, or
- with the consent of the purchaser, in electronic form, sending this document in a manner agreed with him.
Therefore, it is now possible to issue receipts both in paper form and in electronic form (e-receipt). In the case of e-receipts, there is no need to print them out. It should also be noted that the possibility of sending the receipt in an electronic version will be determined by the will of the buyer, who must agree to this form. It is worth adding that the regulations do not provide any guidelines as to the form of expressing such consent. This means that it is also acceptable to express consent in an implicit manner (e.g. by accepting the terms and conditions of sale).
E-receipt and other obligations of the seller
Pursuant to the regulations, the seller must ensure such a technical condition of the online cash register that it enables not only a legible printout of a fiscal receipt or a paper invoice, but also a legible view enabling the buyer to check the correctness of the sale made in the case of an e-receipt. What’s more, the entrepreneur who issued the e-receipt is still obliged to charge the sale to the cash register. Thanks to this, it will keep the sale in the printer’s memory and include it in the daily and monthly report.
Advantages of an electronic receipt
An entrepreneur who issues an electronic receipt to the customer gains many benefits. These include in particular:
- reduction of paper consumption costs,
- saving time on receipt printing,
- a convenient way to store documents – in electronic form,
- no risk that the receipt will fade, be damaged, or lost by the customer,
- image benefits – the entrepreneur acts pro-environmentally by reducing paper consumption, in accordance with the idea of corporate social responsibility.
Government e-receipts application
Taxpayers can now download the e-receipts application prepared by the Ministry of Finance on their phones. It is a free application that allows users to manage expenses, check receipts with a QR code and report irregularities. The resort also announced that in the future the application will be expanded with functionality that allows users to download a receipt in electronic form directly from the cash register.
