A taxpayer selling used packaging is required to treat the sale of these goods as exempt from value added tax.
Beer or wine barrels, pallets, bottles, crates, bags or other types of packaging used are treated as returnable packaging in tax regulations. According to Paragraph 69(1)(b) of the Decree of the Minister of Finance of December 22, 1999 on the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Value Added Tax and Excise Tax (Journal of Laws of 1999, No. 109, item 1245), the sale of goods that can be used as returnable packaging is exempt, except for new packaging sold by manufacturers and importers. This means that a manufacturer or importer selling returnable packaging taxes it with value added tax, while another seller who is not a manufacturer or importer should not charge the tax.
The seller of returnable packaging as exempt on the invoice should indicate that the sale of these items is exempt from tax. On a properly issued invoice, packaging should be included in a separate item, and other goods should be included in another item if their sale is made.

Turnover of returnable packaging gives rise to certain tax consequences for both the seller and the purchaser. A seller of VAT-exempt returnable packaging, according to Article 20 of the VAT Law, is required to separately determine the amounts of input tax related to taxable and tax-exempt sales. Such a taxpayer may reduce the output tax by the amount of input tax related only to taxable sales. The right to reduce output tax is not granted on exempt sales. In a situation where the amounts of input tax related to taxable and exempt sales cannot be distinguished, then a proportional deduction of input tax should be made. To do this, you need to determine the percentage of the value of sales of goods subject to VAT in the value of total sales. A purchaser who has received an invoice that includes the sale of returnable packaging as exempt from VAT cannot deduct input tax. 

The fact that the purchaser of returnable packaging is not entitled to deduct input tax follows from both Article 20(2) and Article 25(1)(1) of the VAT Act. According to Article 25(1)(1), a reduction in output tax is not applied if the taxpayer purchases goods for resale of goods exempt from goods and services tax. Thus, if a taxpayer has purchased returnable packaging, which is subject to exemption, he is not entitled to reduce the output tax on this account. According to the case law (judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of January 07, 1999 ref. SA/Sz 722/98), the qualification of items as exempt from goods and services tax is determined by the functional characteristics of the goods, and not by the manner of use by the taxpayer . The fact that the taxpayer may not resell such packages but only lend them has no effect on the deductibility of such tax.

The purchaser will be able to deduct VAT if the packaging used to transport the goods sold in them, purchased from the manufacturer lun importer, is subsequently made available to the next recipient against a deposit or other security. Such purchase should be treated as related to taxable sales, and therefore the input tax on their purchase is deductible. The possibility of deducting VAT in such a situation was confirmed in a letter from the Ministry of Finance dated May 11, 1999, No. PP4-760/37/99/SR.

It is common for taxpayers to tax the sale of returnable packaging at the rate of 22 %. As a consequence of such treatment of returnable packaging, the seller is required to pay the tax specified on the invoice. The sale of returnable packaging is still an exempt activity, so the seller still cannot deduct input tax in full on the remaining purchases. The buyer, on the other hand, despite having received an invoice showing the amount of VAT on the basis of it, cannot reduce the output tax. Taxation with VAT of goods that are exempt from this tax on the part of the seller results in an overstatement of output tax and at the same time an overstatement of deducted input tax. An overstatement of input tax also arises on the seller's side. For both parties, the unpaid tax on time and interest arise to be paid.