Liability for errors in Poland’s National e-Invoicing System (KSeF)

Liability for KSeF errors in Poland rests primarily with the taxpayer, even when employees or an external accounting firm handle invoicing. Employees, management board members and accounting firms may also face liability under separate employment, corporate or contractual rules. In 2026, penalties under Article 106ni of the Polish VAT Act do not apply to KSeF infringements.

Assessing liability for KSeF errors in Poland means separating the taxpayer’s obligations towards the tax authorities from the responsibility of the people involved in invoicing. Granting access to KSeF is an organisational and technical measure, so it does not automatically transfer the taxpayer’s statutory obligations to the system user.

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Who may be liable for KSeF errors in Poland?

Where the taxpayer is a company, KSeF obligations remain with the company even if an employee issues the invoice. An error may also give rise to separate liability, depending on who was involved:

• Employee: liability under the Polish Labour Code, which requires a breach of duties, fault, damage and a causal link.
• Management board member: liability towards the company; for a sp. z o.o., Article 293 of the Polish Commercial Companies Code applies unless the member is not at fault.
• External accounting firm: contractual liability, particularly under Article 471 of the Polish Civil Code.

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When is an external accounting firm liable?

An external accounting firm may be liable only within the scope of responsibilities it has actually accepted under its service agreement, and providing the services does not make it the taxpayer. It may merely retrieve issued invoices and record them, or it may also issue invoices, submit them, monitor their status or prepare corrections.

Companies using outsourced accounting should therefore define clearly where their own responsibilities end and the provider’s begin.

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Does every KSeF error result in a financial penalty?

No. Article 106ni of the Polish VAT Act concerns specific breaches, such as failing to issue a structured invoice through KSeF or failing to submit an invoice within the deadline. The penalty may reach up to 100% of the VAT shown on the invoice, or up to 18.7% of the total amount due if no VAT is shown.

In 2026 these penalties do not apply, and under current legislation they are scheduled to apply from 1 January 2027. On 20 October 2026, the Polish Council of Ministers approved a draft amendment proposing to extend the penalty-free period until 31 December 2027, so penalties would apply from 1 January 2028 if it enters into force in its proposed form.

The absence of a penalty does not mean errors can be left unresolved. Once an invoice is accepted and assigned a KSeF number, the taxpayer cannot delete or edit it, so a corrective invoice may be necessary where the information is wrong.

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How should KSeF responsibilities be allocated within a company?

The main risk is not that several people take part in issuing an invoice, but that responsibility for individual stages is unclear. Companies should therefore assign responsibility for:

• source data on the invoice;
• approval before submission;
• submission and monitoring of the KSeF status;
• corrective invoices;
• action during a KSeF system outage.

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What should a company do after discovering a KSeF error?

The first step should not be to identify who is to blame, but to establish the nature of the error and its consequences. A practical sequence is to:

• check the document’s status in KSeF and identify the nature and extent of the error;
• assess the implications for VAT and invoicing obligations;
• make the required correction or fulfil any outstanding obligation;
• identify the underlying cause and implement changes to reduce the risk of recurrence.

Only then should the company assess possible liability. A single incorrect invoice may result from an individual’s mistake, whereas dozens of similar errors may indicate a problem with system configuration, data flows or the design of the process.

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If you have any further questions or require additional information, please contact your business relationship person or use the enquiry form on the HLB Poland website.

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