Polish tax office runs 1,054 undercover purchases in West Pomerania, finds violations in 60% of checks

Scale of the operation

Tax and customs officers across Poland's West Pomeranian voivodeship carried out 1,054 so-called test purchases (nabycia sprawdzające) in the first half of 2026. The Szczecin Tax Administration Chamber reported that 628 of those checks, or 59.58%, uncovered irregularities. For comparison, the same region recorded 1,780 such inspections in the whole of 2025, with violations found in 810 cases (over 45%).

It consists of the purchase of goods or services by an employee of the tax authority in order to verify compliance with tax law obligations, specifically the recording of sales using a cash register.

The mechanism, introduced into the National Revenue Administration Act on 1 January 2022, allows officers to pose as ordinary customers. They buy a product or service and then check whether the transaction was properly registered on the fiscal till and a receipt issued.

Office-by-office breakdown

Individual tax offices posted sharply varying results. The Białogard office ran 20 checks and flagged 17 violations. Drawsko Pomorskie recorded 19 irregularities from 23 inspections. The three Szczecin offices together conducted 249 test purchases: the first office found violations in 61 of 84 checks, the second in 47 of 109, and the third in 28 of 56. In Koszalin, two offices combined for 87 inspections and 69 violations.

Coastal towns also saw intense scrutiny. Świnoujście's office flagged 17 of 23 inspected businesses. Kołobrzeg recorded 40 violations from 71 checks. Kamień Pomorski found irregularities in 17 of 38 inspections. The Myślibórz office achieved a 100% violation rate across 15 checks, and Pyrzyce flagged all eight businesses it inspected.

The Carat restaurant incident

A widely shared social media post from a venue called Carat in early July illustrated how the checks unfold on the ground. Two female KAS officers entered the restaurant, ordered fries and a drink, and paid in cash. After collecting the printouts from the counter, they produced their badges and informed the staff member that no receipt had been handed over and that he faced consequences.

The employee replied that the receipt had been issued correctly. It then emerged that the officers had taken only the order number and specification slips, leaving the actual fiscal receipt, the third part of the printout, lying on the counter. The restaurant explained that its till produces two or sometimes three slips: one for the customer, one order specification, and one fiscal receipt.

The receipt for the transaction was issued correctly.

Penalties and rationale

Consequences for businesses caught without a proper receipt can be immediate. One pierogi seller in Szczecin received a 500 zł fine for failing to issue a receipt on a bottle of water. A restaurateur in the Tricity area was fined 2,500 zł after a pizza with prawns was rung up with 8% VAT instead of the correct rate.

Sebastian Osiński, spokesperson for the Szczecin Tax Administration Chamber, said the tool is designed to counter practices that undermine the principle of universal and equal taxation and to protect fair competition. He added that only authorised employees and officers of tax and customs offices may carry out test purchases, and that details of individual inspections are protected by fiscal secrecy.

What the numbers show

Despite the headline-grabbing violation rate, the absolute number of checks remains modest relative to the tens of thousands of shops, service points, and restaurants operating in the region. The 1,054 inspections over six months represent a selective, targeted approach rather than blanket enforcement. The rising violation rate, from just over 45% in full-year 2025 to nearly 60% in the first half of 2026, suggests officers are becoming more precise in choosing which businesses to test.