At the end of the year, debts from 2022 expire. It's up to PLN 122 billion

According to the authors of the study, there are currently over 261,000 debtors listed in the National Debt Register. companies with arrears totaling over PLN 10 billion. “Some of these receivables may be lost on New Year's Eve – these are documents issued in 2022.” – the company noted. As indicated, half (50%) of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises admitted in the study that they struggle with late payments to a greater or lesser extent, 13%. experience it often, and 37 percent Sometimes. “Every third company experiences a significant impact of the lack of money from customers on its daily operations. This affects transport industry entities the hardest, 69% of which declare that they do not receive payments on time,” the authors reported. Kaczmarski Inkasso added that this problem most often affects medium-sized enterprises (70 percent of them point to it).

It was emphasized that calculating the value of invoices that may expire “causes problems, mainly due to the lack of accurate data on sales documents that are issued with deferred payment dates.” The authors referred to: data from the Central Statistical Officewhich shows that sales of SME companies in 2022 amounted to PLN 2.65 trillion. “Based on companies' declarations, it can be estimated that non-cash sales exceeded PLN 1 trillion, of which over 12%, i.e. approximately PLN 122 billion, is overdue by more than a year,” it was stated. It was noted that this estimate does not take into account, among others, differences in sales volume between companies, which reduces its accuracy. “However, even if we divide the result by 5, we still have almost PLN 25 billion, which will be much more difficult to recover after January 1, 2025,” it said.

The authors reminded that if the customer has not paid the invoice submitted to him, the debt will expire at the end of 2024, because the calendar year is counted, not two years counted from the due date (the date on which the payment should be settled in accordance with the contract). ). “The exception is, among others, the transport industry, where the limitation period is one year,” it was added. It was explained that in order to interrupt the limitation period, the deadline is December 31 this year. conclude an agreement with the debtor in which the debtor confirms his obligation or refer the case to court before the end of the year. “From January 1, recovering the debt will be very difficult, although not impossible. The debt will still exist, but it cannot be pursued in court,” it was noted. The study “SME scenarios for non-payment by contractors” was carried out by TGM Research on behalf of the debt collection company Kaczmarski Inkasso at the turn of June and July 2024 using the CAWI method on a representative group of 402 entrepreneurs from the SME sector issuing invoices with deferred payment dates.