Customs Violations in Poland: Criminal and Administrative Penalties

Customs violations in Poland are breaches of customs rules connected with the movement of goods across the customs territory of the Union, including incorrect declarations, undervaluation, misclassification, smuggling, or failure to comply with customs supervision.

For companies, customs violations Poland cases are rarely limited to one shipment. A single import violation may trigger customs debt, VAT and excise exposure, administrative proceedings, criminal fiscal proceedings, seizure or detention of goods, and reputational risk. The practical consequence is often a dispute with the National Revenue Administration, business interruption, and personal risk for managers, customs representatives, logistics staff, or persons responsible for declarations.

Kopeć & Zaborowski (KKZ) advises in matters where customs issues overlap with white-collar crime, tax risk, internal investigations, compliance, and crisis management. In practice, the first step is to determine whether the case is an administrative irregularity, a criminal fiscal offence, or both.

Customs violations Poland – when an irregularity becomes a legal risk

Poland applies EU customs law, primarily the Union Customs Code, together with national rules, including the Polish Customs Law and the Polish Fiscal Penal Code. Customs authorities assess whether goods were properly declared, whether customs duties were calculated correctly, and whether all restrictions, permits, sanctions, or prohibitions were respected [1], [2], [3].

The most common customs violations include:

• importing goods without presenting them to customs;
• declaring an incorrect customs value;
• using an incorrect tariff classification code;
• declaring a false or unsupported country of origin;
• understating customs duty, import VAT, or excise duty;
• breaching customs procedure conditions, for example temporary admission, transit, warehousing, or inward processing;
• importing restricted or prohibited goods without the required authorisation;
• using false invoices, transport documents, certificates, or declarations.

The legal qualification depends on the facts. The same event may be assessed differently if the error resulted from negligence, incorrect data from a supplier, deliberate concealment, or a structured scheme involving false documents.

Administrative consequences of import violations

Administrative customs proceedings focus on correcting the legal and financial consequences of an irregular import or export. The authority may determine customs debt, reassess the customs value, challenge classification, or require payment of customs duties. Import VAT and excise duty may also be affected, depending on the type of goods and transaction structure [4], [5].

Administrative consequences may include:

• assessment or reassessment of customs debt;
• interest and additional payment obligations;
• correction of customs declarations;
• detention, retention, or seizure of goods, depending on the legal basis and stage of the case;
• refusal to release goods for free circulation;
• withdrawal, suspension, or review of customs authorisations;
• increased customs controls in future transactions.

For business, this matters because customs risk is not only a cost issue. If goods are stopped at the border or placed under additional control, production, distribution, retail contracts, and customer deliveries may be affected. In regulated sectors, the case may also raise questions for auditors, banks, insurers, or business partners.

Smuggling charges and customs fraud under Polish criminal fiscal law

Criminal exposure is governed mainly by the Polish Fiscal Penal Code. Smuggling charges may arise in particular under Article 86 of the Fiscal Penal Code, which concerns importing or exporting goods while evading customs control and exposing customs duties to depletion [3].

Customs fraud may also involve misleading the customs authority, presenting unreliable documents, or concealing facts relevant to customs debt. Depending on the conduct, Article 87 of the Fiscal Penal Code may apply, especially where the authority is misled and customs duty is exposed to depletion [3].

Potential penalties under the Fiscal Penal Code include:

• a fine calculated in daily rates;
• imprisonment, in more serious cases;
• both a fine and imprisonment;
• forfeiture of goods or objects connected with the offence;
• liability of persons who managed, approved, organised, or knowingly participated in the conduct.

In less serious cases, conduct may qualify as a fiscal misdemeanour rather than a fiscal offence. The threshold and classification depend on statutory criteria, the amount exposed to depletion, the circumstances of the act, and the degree of culpability.

Who may be liable in customs fraud cases?

Customs documents are often prepared by several entities: the importer, customs agency, freight forwarder, supplier, warehouse operator, and accounting team. Criminal fiscal liability is personal. This means that the authority must assess the conduct of a specific person, not only the company as an importer.

Persons potentially exposed to liability may include:

• management board members responsible for import operations;
• employees approving customs documentation;
• customs representatives submitting declarations;
• logistics managers responsible for transport and warehousing;
• persons arranging invoices, certificates of origin, or product descriptions;
• external advisers or intermediaries, if they knowingly participated in unlawful conduct.

Facts must be separated from assumptions. Incorrect classification or valuation does not automatically prove intent. However, repeated use of unsupported documents, ignoring prior authority warnings, or creating artificial transaction structures may significantly increase criminal risk.

Three cumulative conditions relevant to customs debt regularisation

In some EU customs cases, a customs debt incurred through non-compliance may be extinguished if specific legal conditions are met under the Union Customs Code. These conditions should not be treated as a general defence to smuggling charges, but they may matter in administrative analysis [1].

The three key cumulative conditions are:

1. where the failure has no significant effect on the correct operation of the customs procedure;
2. where no attempt at deception was involved;
3. where all formalities necessary to regularise the situation are subsequently carried out.

Each condition requires factual verification. If there was deception, false documentation, or deliberate evasion of customs supervision, reliance on this mechanism may be unavailable and criminal fiscal risk may remain.

Practical response to customs investigations

A company facing customs proceedings should secure documents quickly. The most important materials usually include customs declarations, invoices, contracts, transport documents, payment confirmations, product specifications, certificates of origin, correspondence with suppliers, and internal approval records.

A practical response should cover:

• mapping the shipments and declarations affected by the issue;
• identifying persons involved in preparing or approving documents;
• checking whether the issue is isolated or systemic;
• assessing customs duty, VAT, and excise exposure;
• verifying whether criminal fiscal proceedings have started or are likely;
• considering correction, disclosure, or procedural defence options, depending on the case.

In many customs fraud cases, the authority will compare declared data with market prices, supplier documents, banking flows, Incoterms, customs databases, and physical characteristics of the goods. Internal consistency is critical. Explanations should be accurate, documented, and aligned with the evidence.

Compliance measures reducing customs violation risk

Customs compliance should be treated as part of corporate risk management. Companies importing goods into the customs territory of the Union through Poland should maintain clear procedures for classification, valuation, origin verification, sanctions screening, and document retention.

Useful preventive measures include:

• periodic review of tariff classifications;
• verification of supplier declarations and origin certificates;
• approval procedures for customs value and transfer pricing links;
• training for logistics, procurement, finance, and compliance teams;
• internal reporting channels for irregularities;
• forensic review when fraud, false invoices, or document manipulation is suspected.

This is informational material, not legal advice. The legal assessment of customs violations in Poland depends on the goods, documents, value, intent, customs procedure, and stage of the proceedings.

If a customs matter involves criminal fiscal risk, smuggling charges, or allegations of customs fraud, it is advisable to consult the situation with a lawyer before submitting explanations or documents to the authority. Early assessment helps identify possible administrative, criminal, and business consequences and discuss the next procedural steps.

FAQ – Customs Violations in Poland

What are customs violations in Poland?

Customs violations are breaches of EU or Polish customs rules, including undeclared imports, incorrect customs value, wrong tariff classification, false origin declarations, or failure to comply with customs supervision.

Can an import violation lead to criminal charges?

Yes. If the facts indicate evasion of customs control, deception, or exposure of customs duties to depletion, the case may lead to criminal fiscal proceedings under the Polish Fiscal Penal Code.

What is the difference between smuggling and customs fraud?

Smuggling usually concerns moving goods while evading customs control. Customs fraud often involves misleading the authority, for example through false documents, incorrect value, origin, or classification. The exact legal qualification depends on the facts.

Can company managers be personally liable?

Yes. Criminal fiscal liability is personal. Managers, employees, customs representatives, or other persons may be liable if their conduct meets the statutory criteria of an offence or misdemeanour.

Does correcting a customs declaration eliminate criminal risk?

Not always. Corrections may reduce administrative exposure, but criminal risk depends on timing, intent, authority knowledge, and whether the conduct involved deception or deliberate evasion.

What documents are important in a customs investigation?

Key documents include customs declarations, invoices, contracts, transport records, product descriptions, certificates of origin, payment confirmations, and correspondence with suppliers or customs representatives.

Bibliography

1. Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code, as amended.
2. Act of 19 March 2004 – Customs Law (Prawo celne), Journal of Laws of Poland, as amended.
3. Act of 10 September 1999 – Fiscal Penal Code (Kodeks karny skarbowy), Journal of Laws of Poland, as amended.
4. Act of 11 March 2004 on Tax on Goods and Services (VAT Act), Journal of Laws of Poland, as amended.
5. Act of 6 December 2008 on Excise Duty, Journal of Laws of Poland, as amended.
6. European Commission, Taxation and Customs Union – Union Customs Code guidance and customs information materials.