Today, Ukrainian business faces real problems in its interaction with the tax authorities, in particular. These problems and their causes were outlined in a commentary to UNN by Serhiy Dorotych, chairman of the #SaveFOP movement.
According to Dorotych, the key problems faced by businesses are the blocking of tax invoices and the gradual, targeted destruction of the simplified taxation system for microenterprises. According to him, the blocking of tax invoices significantly drains working capital.
"These are two of the most painful problems and, unfortunately, various schemes and abuses are growing around them. This includes the fact that enterprises under an incomprehensible format are suddenly classified as risky and blocked on this basis. And we can't find out why one company is risky and the other is not - we can't get a motivated and understandable answer from the tax authorities. For some subjective reason, some clerk just wants to and thinks that this company is risky and the other is not. And this does not depend on the amount of taxes paid or the tax burden," Dorotych said.
He also pointed out the unclear criteria used to conduct inspections of companies - why some are subject to inspections, while others have not been inspected for decades.
"The same goes for the calculation of fines - during a control inspection, a lower threshold is applied to one company, while the maximum one sanction is applied to another. That is, it is completely manual and non-compliance with the laws themselves, both by the tax office and other regulatory authorities. All of this is abuse and is the basis for corruption. Because corruption is the result of poor policy both in terms of lawmaking and law enforcement. Corruption cannot be created without this foundation," Dorotych said.
According to the head of the #SaveFOP movement, the destruction of the simplified taxation system, which was supposed to promote the emergence of new businesses and serve as a kind of incubator, is a very painful issue at the moment.
"As soon as you start doing something, the tax authorities come to you and figure out how to rip you off. Unfortunately, our entire state apparatus, headed by the tax authorities, the tax committee, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Economy, are parasitic structures that do not think about how to help business initiatives develop. They are all temps - now they need to be ripped off, and then everything else," he summarized.
As for the role of the head of the Verkhovna Rada Tax Committee, MP Danylo Hetmantsev, Dorotych noted: "Everyone knows that any of his initiatives are subversive, he is behind all the fraud and criminal appointments. Those tax officials whom he lobbies are later caught on bribes, it all goes in a circle. And everyone knows that he is managing in a manual mode, and no one does anything.