Residents and non-residents are required to make money transfers abroad and domestic settlements associated with foreign exchange through banks, if the amount of transfer or settlement exceeds the equivalent of EUR 15,000. This is due to the Article 25 of the Act of foreign exchange. The exchange rate is determined using the average exchange rate announced by the National Bank of Poland on the day before conducting the activity (Article 2 (3) of the Act on foreign exchange).
With the provision of Article 25 and the definition of foreign exchange trade contained in Article 2 (16-18) of the Act on foreign exchange, that the intermediary of a bank is required when the need arises to make the export or import, transmission and sending abroad or sending thence foreign currencies or domestic means of payment.
This requirement also applies to domestic transactions if:
- the accounting is conducted in Poland among residents (domestic entities) and the currency of settlement is a foreign currency,
- the settlement is conducted in Poland between a resident and a non-resident, regardless of the currency.
In the above cases, the bank intermediation is mandatory when the settlement amount exceeds the equivalent of EUR 15,000. Violation of the above rules entails penal fiscal liability.