Electronic tax ledger and JPK are another stage in the digitalisation of tax settlements. In an article published in “Rzeczpospolita”, Piotr Sekulski, PhD, tax advisor at Outsourced.pl, comments on why the new obligations may be a bigger change for many small businesses than KSeF itself.
Who is affected by the new obligations
The article with a comment by Piotr Sekulski, PhD, was published in “Rzeczpospolita” and can be read here.
The paper-based tax revenue and expense ledger, known in Poland as PKPiR, is gradually becoming a thing of the past. From 2026, some entrepreneurs must keep their tax records using computer software and then submit the data to the tax authorities in JPK structures, including JPK_PKPIR, JPK_EWP and JPK_ST. The Ministry of Finance indicates that, in the first stage, the obligation applies, among others, to entrepreneurs submitting JPK_V7M on a monthly basis. In practice, this means that even very small businesses will have to adjust the way they keep their tax records to electronic requirements. The problem does not concern sales invoices only.
Piotr Sekulski, PhD, tax advisor
For many small businesses, this is a bigger revolution than KSeF. The tax ledger includes not only invoices, but also other documents: payment confirmations, receipts, bills, internal documents concerning, for example, business travel settlements or home office expenses.
Electronic tax ledger and JPK – a form is not accounting software
The Ministry of Finance has made interactive forms available for the new JPK structures, including JPK_PKPIR, JPK_EWP and JPK_ST. The podatki.gov.pl website indicates that the forms concern, among others, the tax revenue and expense ledger, the revenue register and the fixed assets register.
However, it is important to emphasise one key difference: a form used to submit data is not the same as a tool for keeping tax records on an ongoing basis. The entrepreneur will still need to have the data prepared in the correct format, most often in accounting software or with the support of an accounting office.
For many of the smallest entrepreneurs, this may mean additional organisational and technological costs. Some of them will have to buy software, change their document flow or outsource accounting to an external accounting office.
Electronic tax ledger and JPK – another cost of running a business
The new obligations show a broader trend: running a business is becoming increasingly digital, but also increasingly formalised. The state expects entrepreneurs to report data electronically, while the practical burden of implementation often remains with the business.
In practice, electronic tax ledger and JPK obligations may particularly affect the smallest businesses that have so far kept their tax ledger on their own or in a very simple way. This is why it is worth checking now whether the current method of keeping documentation will allow JPK files to be prepared correctly after the end of the year.
