GFD provides clarification on reporting of sales received from carriers
Have you properly set contractual terms and conditions with your carriers? Do you know when and who is supposed to report sales with payment collection provided by carriers? Please note that for ERS purposes, not all carriers are the same! The General Financial Directorate published material providing guidance to taxpayers on the reporting of sales these taxpayers receive via carriers. This does not only apply to e-shops but also to all that dispatch their goods via carriers, if these receive payments for the goods they deliver.
If you use external carriers, messengers or post service providers (“carriers” in general) for the dispatch of your goods and collection of your payments, you should review whether the contractual relationships with the carriers and the relevant reporting of sales comply with the Act on Electronic Reporting of Sales and the GFD’s interpretations.
Most important and decisive is the title under which the carrier receives payments from customers. In practice, there are generally three contractual scenarios: direct representation, indirect representation and a special mediation category. Simultaneously, the GDF emphasises that the contractual relationship’s content and not just its formal designation is crucial in this respect.
Where carriers collect sales based on contracts for direct representation (e.g. contracts of mandate), they act on behalf and on the account of the appropriate taxpayer/seller. Such payments must be reported no later than at the moment the carrier accepts the payment from the end customer. Taxpayers/sellers are responsible for the reporting of sales or they may place their ERS certificates into the custody of the carriers. Another option is to authorise the carrier to report these sales. The receipt’s essential elements will depend on the selected reporting method, as these elements may differ each time.
Where carriers act based on contracts for indirect representation (e.g. consignment contracts), i.e. when they act in their own name but on the taxpayer’s account, the received payment must also be reported no later than at the moment the carrier accepts the payment. Unlike for direct representation, the payment is reported by the carrier using their own ERS certificate. Here, the receipt’s essential elements vary from the essential elements pertaining to the previous scenario.
Transactions during which carriers act as mediators, in particular post service operators included in a listing published by the Czech Telecommunication Office, form a separate category. It should be noted here that, at variance with information included in the methodological guidance on the electronic reporting of sales, the GFD specifies other situations in which carriers other than post service operators act as mediators. During these transactions, sales must be reported the moment the carrier hands over/transfers the payment to the taxpayer. Where payments using credit cards are concerned, the GFD’s already-published opinion on payments made via payment terminals must be taken into account.