Guides / Import VAT in Poland · Updated 30 September 2026

Import VAT in Poland on goods from the UK

Goods from Great Britain are third-country imports in Poland, so VAT is due at import even when duty is zero. Here is how it is calculated and settled.

Since the United Kingdom left the EU, goods moving from Great Britain to Poland are imports from a third country. That changes how VAT works. Instead of the intra-Community rules that applied before, Polish import VAT is triggered at the border, alongside any customs duty. This guide explains when the tax arises, what it is calculated on, the two ways a business can settle it, and what private buyers should expect.

When import VAT arises

According to the Polish government business portal (biznes.gov.pl), the obligation to pay import VAT generally arises at the moment the customs debt is incurred. In practice that is usually when goods are declared for release into free circulation, or for temporary admission with partial relief from duty. Where goods are placed under inward processing, the obligation arises when that procedure is closed.

The person liable is the one obliged to pay customs duties on the import. Importantly, biznes.gov.pl makes clear that this applies even when the goods are duty-free or benefit from a suspended or preferential tariff rate. So even if your goods qualify for zero duty under the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, import VAT is still due in Poland.

The European Commission's Your Europe portal describes the same principle from the EU perspective: if you buy goods for business use from a supplier outside the EU, you generally pay VAT at the point of import, at the rate applicable in the importing country.

The taxable base: what VAT is calculated on

A common mistake is to calculate Polish import VAT on the invoice price alone. The taxable base set out on biznes.gov.pl is wider. It is made up of:

the customs value of the goods, plus the customs duty due;
additional costs such as commission, packaging, transport and insurance to the first place of destination in Poland (or another known destination in the EU), where these are not already included in the customs value;
other import-related charges collected by the customs authorities;
excise duty, where the goods are excisable.

This means freight and insurance often count twice in the calculation: once inside the customs value, and then the duty itself is added before VAT is applied. If you want to understand how the customs value is built, our guide to customs valuation methods covers the underlying rules.

Option 1: paying import VAT at clearance

By default, import VAT is assessed by the customs authority as part of the import declaration. Under the standard procedure described on biznes.gov.pl, the tax must be paid within 10 days of the customs authority notifying you of the amount. Businesses that pay this way can then deduct the tax on the basis of the customs document, provided they meet the deduction conditions below.

The drawback is cash flow: you pay the tax up front and only recover it later through your VAT return.

Option 2: settling in the VAT return under article 33a

Poland offers a simplified route under article 33a of the VAT Act. It lets an eligible business account for import VAT directly in its JPK_V7 return instead of paying it to customs, so the payable and deductible amounts can offset each other in the same return. According to biznes.gov.pl, the main conditions are:

you are registered as an active VAT taxpayer in Poland;
you submit to the customs authority, no earlier than six months before the import, a certificate of no arrears in social security (ZUS) contributions, a certificate of no arrears in taxes owed to the state budget, and confirmation of your VAT registration;
the import declaration is lodged through a customs representative, unless you hold AEO status or relevant simplification permits;
declarations are handled through the PUESC platform.

The documents need to be refreshed every six months to keep the right to use the procedure. If they lapse, import VAT falls back to being paid at clearance.

Article 33a is only available to businesses that meet all of these conditions. Whether the representative acts directly or indirectly matters for liability: under direct representation the importer remains liable, while under indirect representation the agent becomes jointly liable. See direct representation in our glossary.

Reclaiming import VAT

Only active VAT taxpayers can deduct import VAT, and only to the extent the goods are used for VAT-taxable activities. Biznes.gov.pl lists the documents that support the deduction, depending on how the tax was settled:

Settlement route	Basis for deduction
Paid at clearance	Customs document or customs authority decision correcting the VAT amount
Article 33a	Entry in the JPK_V7 file
Simplified procedure	Import declaration (VAT-IM) or registry entry

The deduction can be made in the period in which the tax obligation arose, or in the next two periods for monthly filers, or the next period for quarterly filers. Missing that window means correcting earlier returns, so it is worth reconciling customs documents with your ledger every month.

Private buyers

If you are a private individual buying goods from the UK, import VAT still applies on arrival in Poland. The difference is that you cannot get it back. Biznes.gov.pl states that entities which are not active VAT taxpayers cannot recover import VAT; for a business that is not VAT-registered, the tax can at most be treated as a cost if it relates to earning income. For a consumer, it is simply part of the price.

Low-value parcels are not an exception either. The EU relief from duty for consignments up to 150 EUR was abolished from 1 July 2026, so duty and VAT now need checking on low-value imports too. For personal belongings moving with you, different reliefs may apply; our guide to moving household goods from the UK to Poland covers that situation.

Practical checklist before your first shipment

Confirm you have an EORI number valid in the EU (see EORI).
Work out the taxable base including duty and transport to the first destination in Poland, not just the invoice value.
Decide whether you will pay at clearance or use article 33a, and if the latter, lodge your certificates with customs in time.
Agree the form of representation with your agent.
Keep the customs documents that support your deduction.

For a worked overview of how duty and VAT combine on UK consignments, see Easy Clearance's article on customs duty and VAT on UK imports.

Related guides

Importing from the UK into Poland?

Easy Clearance is a UK–EU customs clearance agency handling import and export declarations, T1/T2 transit and UK–Poland removals.

Talk to Easy Clearance

Sources

General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements on gov.uk or with a registered agent before you ship.