Media analyses suggest that millions of packages covered by the deposit return scheme will go unreturned each year, leaving deposits with scheme operators, which must account for them. The scheme naturally has tax implications. This raises several questions: are collected deposits revenue, who controls the funds, how should they be accounted for, and what are the tax consequences?
The legal status of a deposit
The deposit is not part of the price of the goods. It is a refundable charge collected when a beverage in packaging covered by the scheme is purchased. It is a form of security, a charge intended to motivate the consumer to take a particular action: returning the packaging.
A collected deposit is not included in the VAT taxable amount. VAT is charged only if the packaging is not returned.
The obligation to account for VAT on unreturned deposits
- The entity placing products in beverage packaging on the market is the taxable person, responsible for reporting VAT in returns and records.
- The scheme operator is the VAT remitter, obliged to pay VAT on unreturned deposits.
- Other entities, such as wholesalers and shops, do not have to adjust VAT for deposits in intermediate transactions, because the deposit is tax neutral apart from the final settlement by the entity placing products on the market.
As the Ministry of Finance explains[1], if packaging covered by the scheme is not returned, the entity placing products in beverage packaging on the market must increase the VAT taxable amount by the value of the unreturned deposit (the gross amount). The net amount and VAT must then be calculated using the VAT rate applicable to the beverage sold in that packaging. Where products were sold at different VAT rates, calculations must be made separately for each rate. Packaging returns reduce the taxable amount: even if the consumer returns packaging later, that deposit amount reduces the tax liability.
VAT on unreturned deposits should be accounted for annually, in the return for the first accounting period of the year following the year in which the difference arose between packaging placed on the market and packaging returned.
The retailer’s perspective: deposits as funds held temporarily
For retailers, from small shops to large chains, deposits are temporary funds. The shop acts as an intermediary, collecting money from customers and required to settle it with the operator.
- Deposits and VAT. Collecting a deposit falls outside the scope of VAT. It is not consideration for a supply of goods or services. The retailer should therefore neither add VAT to the deposit nor report it in VAT returns.
- What happens to an unclaimed deposit at a shop? The shop gains no benefit if a customer does not return packaging. All unsettled deposits must be transferred to the operator under the agreement.
- Reporting. Shops acting as collection points must keep records of deposits collected and refunded and packaging collected. On retail receipts, the deposit should appear in the non-fiscal section.
The scheme operator’s perspective (the representative entity)
Unclaimed deposit funds accumulate at operator level. As the operator functions on a non-profit basis, these deposits are not profits distributable to shareholders. They are one of the principal statutory sources of funding for its activities: covering the substantial costs of organising packaging collection, transport and recycling and administering the entire scheme.
- An operator that has contracted with entities placing packaging on the market becomes the VAT remitter for deposits collected on packaging not returned.
- The operator must calculate and pay VAT to the competent tax office.
- Settlements should be made separately for each entity placing packaged products on the market: that entity accounts for VAT on unreturned packaging, while the operator pays the VAT due.
VAT deduction
According to the Ministry of Finance’s explanations[2], the taxable person cannot deduct VAT on deposits. The ministry states that the legislation excludes deduction because packaging can be returned without time limits and there is a potential risk of abuse of VAT deductions.
Conclusion
Correct VAT classification and settlement under the deposit return scheme is a complex issue at the intersection of administrative, civil and tax law. Errors can lead to serious financial consequences and disputes with tax authorities. Establishing whether an entity is the taxable person—the entity placing products in beverage packaging on the market—may be particularly important. The remitter will always be the operator contracted by that entity. Other entities, retailers and wholesalers, have the reporting obligations discussed previously.
More information is available on our Deposit return scheme in Poland page and in the DJP deposit return scheme guide (PDF, in Polish).
[1] Tax explanations of 29 August 2025 on the VAT treatment of transactions associated with the deposit return scheme within the meaning of Article 8(13a) of the Act of 13 June 2013 on packaging and packaging waste management (Ministry of Finance explanations, in Polish).
[2] Ibid.
