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Correcting an invoice and a return: when and how

Expert knowledge. Content verified: 7 November 2026.

You correct an error on an issued invoice with a credit note (correcting invoice), and you correct an error in a filed return or JPK_V7 by filing a corrected return. These are two separate steps: a credit note changes the sales document, while a corrected return changes the tax settlement for a specific period. Below are the rules in force in November 2026.

When a credit note (correcting invoice) is issued

Under art. 106j para. 1 of the VAT Act, you issue a credit note when, after the invoice was issued:

  • the tax base or the amount of tax shown on the invoice has changed,
  • the buyer returned goods or packaging,
  • the whole or part of the payment received before the delivery of goods or the performance of the service was refunded to the buyer,
  • a mistake was found in any item of the invoice.

Art. 106k of the VAT Act, concerning correcting debit notes, has been repealed, and a mistake in any item of an invoice is corrected with a credit note (correcting invoice).

What a credit note (correcting invoice) should contain

  • The sequence number and issue date of the correction.
  • The number identifying in the National e-Invoice System (KSeF) the invoice to which the correction relates, if the invoice has such a number.
  • The data from the invoice being corrected specified in art. 106e para. 1 points 1–5 and the name (type) of the goods or services covered by the correction.
  • When the correction changes the tax base or the output tax: the amount of the base correction and the amount of the tax correction split by rates and exempt sales. In other cases: the correct content of the corrected items.
  • The invoice may also contain the words "CORRECTING INVOICE" or "CORRECTION" and the reason for the correction (art. 106j para. 2a). A credit note for a structured invoice is issued as a structured invoice or as an invoice referred to in art. 106nda para. 1 (para. 4).

Which period to settle the correction in

The period depends on the direction of the correction. For VAT, the rules from art. 29a of the VAT Act apply:

  • Downward correction due to a discount or price reduction, return of goods or packaging, or refund of payment received before a sale that did not take place (para. 10 points 1–3): for a structured credit note you reduce the base for the period in which you issued it (para. 13). For a credit note other than a structured one you do so for the period in which you received confirmation that the buyer received it, with the exceptions in para. 15 (para. 13a). Special cases are described in para. 13b and 13c.
  • A mistake in the amount of tax, where the invoice shows tax higher than due: the same rules apply accordingly (para. 14).
  • Upward correction, i.e. an increase in the tax base: you make the correction in the settlement for the period in which the reason for the increase of the base arose (para. 17). For exports of goods and intra-Community supplies of goods, the increase is made no earlier than in the return for the period in which those transactions were reported (para. 18).

In income tax, if the correction of revenue does not result from an accounting error or an obvious mistake, you reduce or increase the revenue earned in the settlement period in which the credit note was issued (art. 14 para. 1m of the PIT Act). If you have no revenue in that period, or it is lower than the amount of the reduction, you increase costs by the missing amount (para. 1n). The flat-rate tax act has its own rule for this case: you make the reduction in the following settlement periods (art. 6 para. 1e). In the KPiR you enter the correction with a minus sign (§ 6 para. 2 of the regulation).

How to correct a return or JPK_V7

  1. Determine the period the error relates to and check whether the settlement for that period has already been filed. A return is corrected by filing a corrected return (art. 81 § 2 of the Tax Ordinance).
  2. File the correction on the form appropriate to the return being corrected, selecting the purpose of filing "correction of return". In JPK_V7M and JPK_V7K, enter the value 2 in the CelZlozenia field.
  3. Fill in only the parts you are correcting: when correcting both the return and the register, all elements (Naglowek, Podmiot1, Deklaracja, Ewidencja); for the return alone, Naglowek, Podmiot1 and Deklaracja; and for the register alone, Naglowek, Podmiot1 and Ewidencja.
  4. Send the correction of the records part alone within 14 days of finding the error or the change of data (biznes.gov.pl).
  5. If the correction results in an arrear, pay it with late-payment interest calculated from the day after the payment deadline to the day of payment. If the correction creates or increases a VAT refund, the refund deadline runs from the day it is filed.

According to biznes.gov.pl, the reduced interest rate (50% of the basic rate) applies when you meet three conditions together: you file an effective correction no later than 6 months after the deadline for filing the return, you pay the whole arrear within 7 days of filing the correction, and the correction is not filed after service of a notice of intent to initiate a tax audit (or, where none is served, after the audit ends), after service of an authorisation for a customs and fiscal audit, or as a result of verification activities.

  • From 1 October 2026 the entity entitled to make a correction may submit a written justification of the reasons for the correction, and a return correction showing an overpayment greater than 10 000 PLN is filed together with such a justification (art. 81 § 2a and 2b of the Tax Ordinance, as worded by the act of 29 May 2026).
  • The right to make a correction is suspended for the duration of tax proceedings or a tax audit within the scope they cover, and a correction filed during that time has no legal effect (art. 81b § 1 point 1 and § 2).
  • You can file a correction of the annual PIT return in the e-PIT service, through another electronic channel or on paper (podatki.gov.pl).

How it works in Zaksio

Anna and Kasia are software (an AI team), not an accounting firm or a tax adviser. Below is what Zaksio does with corrections; you or your accounting firm always check the result.

  • Credit note: from an issued sales invoice, the "Issue correction" button prepares a draft with the reason given. The "before and after" summary shows the difference in net, VAT and gross in each rate. Issuing assigns a number from a separate counter and posts only the difference. You do not edit the draft: you delete a wrong one and create it again.
  • You can send the correction to KSeF as a credit note (KOR) indicating the invoice being corrected.
  • Zaksio determines the VAT settlement period of a correction according to rules stored in the program and shows it on the draft. Treat it as a suggestion to check against the rules in this article.
  • JPK_V7 correction: Zaksio detects filed periods in which the data changed after filing and prepares a correction file (filing purpose 2) with the reason for the correction for you to review. You or your accounting firm file the file.
  • Amounts are calculated by deterministic code, not AI. The Start plan is free within limits; you can find their size in the Zaksio price list.

Sources

  • Act of 11 March 2004 on Value Added Tax, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1263 (art. 29a, 106e, 106j, 106k) — https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20040540535
  • Act of 29 August 1997, Tax Ordinance Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 622 (art. 81, 81b) — https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU19971370926
  • Act of 29 May 2026 amending the Tax Ordinance Act and certain other acts (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 846, art. 1 pkt 22) — https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20260000846
  • Act of 26 July 1991 on Personal Income Tax, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 592 (art. 14) — https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU19910800350
  • Act of 20 November 1998 on the Flat-Rate Income Tax on Certain Revenues Earned by Natural Persons, consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 poz. 843 (art. 6) — https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU19981440930
  • Regulation of the Minister of Finance and Economy of 6 September 2025 on keeping the tax revenue and expense ledger (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1299) — https://www.gov.pl/web/finanse/publikacja-rozporzadzen-ministra-finansow-i-gospodarki-dotyczacych-ksiag-podatkowych
  • Biznes.gov.pl: How to settle VAT correctly (return correction, interest) — https://www.biznes.gov.pl/pl/portal/00232
  • Biznes.gov.pl: How to file JPK_VAT with a return (JPK_VAT correction) — https://www.biznes.gov.pl/pl/portal/00237
  • Podatki.gov.pl: Return correction — https://www.podatki.gov.pl/twoj-e-pit/pytania-i-odpowiedzi/korekta-zeznania

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