Payment Terms Legislation In Poland

The Act on Counteracting Excessive Delays in Commercial Transactions enacts the EU Late Payment Directive (see European Union for details). Additionally for payments from large companies to micro, small or medium sized companies a strict maximum term of 60 days applies and the creditor is due interest after 30 days.

Act of November 17, 2021 on counteracting the unfair use of contractual advantage in trading in agricultural and food products enacts the EU UTP Directive (See European Union for details). The terms apply from the day of delivery and are applied differently for regular and non-regular deliveries.

There are a number of different commercial and civil statutory interest rates in Poland. The civil code specifies a general statutory interest rate and a rate for delays in payments, these are 3.5% and 5.5% above the national reference rate respectively. Where payment terms are agreed beyond 30 days the interest applicable from 30 days to the agreed date is based on the statutory rate. Article 4 of The Act on Counteracting Excessive Delays in Commercial Transactions, specifies the default interest rate for delayed commercial payments as the reference rate plus 10%. For government medical entities the rate is the reference rate plus 8%. These rates are set and published semi-annually by the Minister of Development and Technology.