The Council for Support of Entrepreneurship under Martial Law will consider the government's draft law on tax increases on Wednesday. This was announced by the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, UNN reports.
"Tomorrow, we are holding a regular meeting of the Council for Support of Entrepreneurship under Martial Law established by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. We will discuss the draft law No. 11416 on amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other laws of Ukraine regarding the peculiarities of taxation during martial law. There will be an honest and direct dialog between business and government officials," Yermak said .
According to Yermak, the meeting will also be attended by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, First Deputy Prime Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Danylo Hetmantsev.
"I hope that tomorrow we will have an open and constructive dialog on this platform. Business is important," added Mr. Yermak
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The government submitted to the Verkhovna Rada draft laws on tax increases and amendments to the 2024 state budget. The Cabinet of Ministers proposes to the Parliament to increase the military tax rate to 5%, and for some transactions to 30%. Danylo Hetmantsev , Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, supported the government's initiative, noting that he sees no other options than to accept the Cabinet's proposal to raise certain taxes (military duty, excise taxes, in particular on fuel and tobacco), increase the relevant tax base, and place more government bonds, which may also include NBU issuance.
"Yes, this is a bad decision that will hinder economic recovery, the growth of citizens' incomes, and potentially pose risks to macro-financial stability. However, there is no other way than to close the gap in the military now, because in a few months we will face a significant shortage of funds for the current maintenance of the army, which will begin to deepen sharply by the end of the year," wrote Hetmantsev.
The head of the Rada's tax committee has repeatedly voiced the idea of raising taxes in Ukraine. According to economic expert Yuriy Havrylechko, the elimination of the tax and customs services and the transfer of the economy to martial law may be an alternative to Hetmantsev's idea to raise taxes to close the budget gap.
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Earlier, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, deputy chairman of the parliament's tax committee, criticized the draft law that provides for tax increases. According to him, it is not clear why such tax changes are proposed and what calculations they are based on.