The Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs named the problems most often faced by businesses: every second company suffers losses from tax authorities
Kyiv • UNN
The Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs named the problems most often faced by businesses
The problems that Ukrainian business is currently facing can be divided into two groups: those related to the war and those related to pressure from law enforcement and regulatory authorities. As Kateryna Hlazkova, executive director of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs, told UNN in a commentary, while the government is trying to solve the first set of problems, the second set of problems is practically unaddressed.
She noted that today business in Ukraine operates in extremely difficult conditions: daily alarms, shelling, disrupted logistics, periodic power outages, and mobile communications. Glazkova added that the Union systematizes business problems and promotes advocacy for the necessary government decisions to address them.
Despite all this, the business continues to operate, pay salaries and taxes, which are so necessary to finance our military. The most frequent requests to the Union are: booking employees and their business trips abroad, logistical problems at the border, illegal actions of law enforcement officers, fiscal pressure from tax and customs services. And while the first set of issues related to military operations is gradually being resolved by the authorities, the second set of issues caused by the work of law enforcement and inspection agencies is practically unchanged and sometimes even worsens, in particular, in the issue of blocking tax invoices
According to her, the number of blocking operations increased rapidly in October 2022, and almost every second company suffered losses due to the imperfect work of the tax service. According to Hlazkova, during the year, the Union repeatedly addressed the government, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, and MPs with relevant initiatives that would allow honest businesses to operate without unnecessary costs for collecting evidence of their innocence before the state. And although, as the executive director of the CJS notes, despite the fact that in most cases businesses received assistance, there is still no systemic solution to the problem.
According to the STS, more than 25 thousand companies face the problem of suspension of tax invoice registration every month, and about 80% of them are resolved administratively after appeals. Other appeals considered by the courts are 95% resolved in favor of the business. Overall, 90% of tax claims are false.
"Drawing up explanations, submitting scanned documents, certifying signatures, seals, paying for lawyers and judicial authorities are wasted time and money that could be invested in the Armed Forces. According to the Union's calculations, businesses spend about UAH 400 million per month to unblock tax invoices. The country's economy, production, and processing industry, which could have developed at a faster pace, are also losing money," Glazkova said.
According to her, a separate problem with the mechanism of blocking tax invoices is corruption risks, "when creating problems with the registration of tax invoices by tax authorities is related to the human factor and is a hidden form of pressure on business to obtain illegal benefits.
She noted that these risks were reflected in the NAPC's anti-corruption study, which was conducted with the participation of the Union's think tank and presented in December 2023. She expressed hope that the NACP's findings would still influence a change in the philosophy of tax administration.
