An increase in the tax burden on entrepreneurs will lead them to work in the shadows, and some may even immigrate from Ukraine. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by political strategist Serhiy Gaidai.
The day before, the head of the Verkhovna Rada's Tax Committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, said that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is preparing a bill that, among other things, proposes to introduce a military tax for individual entrepreneurs. Thus, according to him, it is planned to increase budget revenues by UAH 44 billion.
"Any increase in taxes and military fees now is very surprising to society. Because without cutting public spending, without really fighting corruption - 30% of the money just goes into corruption schemes - to demand from society, entrepreneurs who are already under pressure to increase... I mean, the government is giving a signal - we continue to dress up, drive foreign cars and get huge salaries, continue to steal money, and you, please, provide us, because we are at war. So what they will achieve is a bigger shadow economy, people will go into the shadows, and those who decide to continue working in Ukraine will decide to immigrate," Gaidai said.
According to him, the approach to taxation in Ukraine should be radically different.
"I would make radical changes in tax legislation, I would remove all taxes from enterprises, overwhelm them with military orders, they would provide our army, and I would turn the entire population into taxpayers. In this way, the population would understand that everyone, whether they earn a lot or not, pays taxes, and it goes to the war transparently," suggested Gaidai.
At the same time, he proposes to reduce the number of ministries, government spending, and the number of security forces that are not currently at war. In his opinion, under such conditions, entrepreneurship in Ukraine will grow, wages will increase, and this will lead to economic growth.
Recall
Nina Yuzhanina, a member of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy, previously stated that Hetmantsev's goal is to squeeze business, and he does not care what the consequences are for the state.