If you have lost your fiscal cash register, you must immediately halt sales to individuals. In case of theft, report the incident to the Police right away and obtain a formal report. You have exactly 5 days to officially notify the Head of the Tax Office about the loss of the device, providing details such as its unique number and serial number.
Losing a fiscal device is a stressful moment, but as the fiskasy.pl brand, we are here to guide you smoothly through the entire procedure. You need to act quickly and methodically to protect your business from severe financial penalties. Here is an actionable plan.
Step by step: What must you do right now?
Immediately halt sales. From the moment you notice the register is missing, you are strictly prohibited from serving natural persons not conducting business activities and flat-rate farmers. Continuing sales without a recording device is a gross violation of VAT Act regulations. The solution for this period is to immediately launch a backup cash register.
Report the theft to the Police. If the loss of the cash register is due to theft, go to a police station immediately. You must obtain written confirmation (a police report) of filing the notification. This document will serve as your basis when dealing with the tax office and for any insurance claims.
Submit a letter to the Tax Office. According to the regulation (Journal of Laws 2025 item 845), you are obligated to report this fact within a maximum of 5 days from the moment of discovering the loss. The letter addressed to the relevant Head of the Tax Office must be comprehensive and include:
Your full identification details: company name, registered office address, NIP.
Details of the lost fiscal cash register: device type, its unique number, and serial number.
A detailed description of the circumstances and the exact date.
A copy of the police report (if theft is involved).
Penalties and relief clawback – what you need to avoid
Ignoring procedures is a surefire way to run into financial trouble. If you fail to meet the 5-day deadline or do not report the loss at all, you face fiscal-penal sanctions, including fines for a fiscal offense or petty offense for improper bookkeeping. The Tax Office also has the right to assess the value of your sales, apply the highest VAT rate, and determine an additional tax liability equal to 30% of the input tax amount.
You should also know that if you lose the cash register within 3 years of starting recording, you will be required to return the purchase tax relief of up to 700 zł. This is because without the physical device, you cannot submit it for the mandatory technical inspection required to retain the relief.
Lost service book and recovering the device
What if the cash register was lost along with the service book? This requires immediate notification to the Tax Office, followed by requesting a duplicate from the service center. Remember that without the cash register service book, the device cannot be legally used, and failure to present the document during an audit can result in a fine of up to 720 daily rates.
If your lost cash register is unexpectedly recovered, you cannot simply resume using it right away. You must notify the Tax Office of its recovery and have an authorized technician perform a mandatory technical inspection before resuming record-keeping. You may resume sales at the earliest on the day following the completion of this inspection.
For more information on this topic, check out the comprehensive article by ESC SA: Lost fiscal cash register – what steps should be taken?
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