Business Ombudsman: Hetmantsev's bill on "white business club" will create a reservation for the elite
Kyiv • UNN
Business Ombudsman Roman Vashchuk criticized the draft law on the "white business club" initiated by Hetmantsev, saying that it would create a reservation for the elite instead of leveling the playing field for all businesses.
Ukraine needs to equalize the conditions for doing business, and the draft law on the "white business club" initiated by the chairman of the Rada's tax committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, will create a reservation for the elite. This opinion was expressed by business ombudsman Roman Vashchuk, UNN reports.
In his Telegram channel, Hetmantsev said that he and his colleagues had prepared a draft law on the "white business club". According to him, the essence of the document is that "if an entrepreneur meets simple and transparent criteria for paying taxes above the industry average and paying salaries above the industry average, he will not be subject to tax control in the form of inspections. This is among other advantages. The list is reviewed quarterly." In addition, the draft law proposes to introduce tax nannies.
"I think we need to level the playing field for all businesses... We need to change the approach in general, not create a reservation for the chosen ones," Vashchuk said
According to him, the tax nannies envisaged by the draft law on the "white business club" will not change the situation in the tax system.
At the same time, Vashchuk presented an investigation conducted by the Business Ombudsman Council on tax audits in Ukraine. To do this, they analyzed more than a thousand business complaints about tax audits since 2017, as well as statistical data from the State Tax Service and its reports.
"We see a certain presumption of malice on the part of the tax authorities and government agencies. In other words, a taxpayer is a potential violator of tax legislation rather than a law-abiding taxpayer who may make some mistakes and needs help," said Vashchuk during the presentation of the research results.
He also added that the level of business confidence in the tax authorities is currently very low.
Mr. Vashchuk emphasized that the system of tax audits in Ukraine is extensive, and as a result of their conduct, courts consider tens of thousands of cases a year. "Revenues from them amount to less than 1% of the accrued monetary liabilities to the general consolidated Ukrainian budget. 99%+ of Ukrainian businesses pay taxes voluntarily," he said.
In addition, he said, tax authorities are increasingly drawing up reports on violations committed by companies and fining them as a result of inspections. "If there are so many inspections and additional charges, then we can hope that this should fill any holes in the budget. I think that many business people think that they (the tax authorities - ed.) have come and are filling the budget. But, as we see, a little rain comes out of a big cloud," Vashchuk said.
The Business Ombudsman noted that since 2017, budget revenues from additional tax charges have never amounted to more than 16% of what was "dug up, found or drawn" by tax authorities during inspections.
Recall
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy will recommend that the parliament pass in the first reading a bill on the "white business club" that could legalize the classification of companies as risky and block their invoices. According to economic expert Yuriy Havrylechko, Hetmantsev's bill violates the Constitution of Ukraine and creates discriminatory conditions in the business environment.
