Criminal cases against business: why the Tax Service may lose up to 90% of cases in courts
Kyiv • UNN
The Tax Service may lose up to 90% of criminal cases against businesses in Ukrainian courts due to lack of evidence.
During inspections of Ukrainian companies by the Tax Service, fines of more than UAH 45 billion were charged, but due to the groundlessness of most of the accusations, businesses paid only UAH 2 billion. This was reported by UNN with reference to an interview by Roman Vashchuk to Yurydychna Gazeta.
Let's take the example of the first 10 months of 2023. Tax audits have resulted in additional UAH 46 billion in tax payments. The budget received more than UAH 2 billion. So, the efficiency of all this fuss... We are trying to consider it.
Details
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, in 77% of criminal cases against businesses in Ukraine, law enforcement officers do not submit materials to court with an indictment, which is a record high in history.
In the period from January to October 2023, only 23% of criminal investigations in the business sector resulted in the transfer of indictments to court. This is a third less than in previous years.
In 2023, the number of closed criminal cases related to economic activity was the lowest in the last five years.
In the period from October to December 2023, the Business Ombudsman Council received 337 complaints from companies regarding unfair behavior by state authorities and closed 220 cases. Business tax issues account for 61% of all appeals to the Council, which is the most common object of complaints.
Mr. Vashchuk suggested that the tax authorities lose between two-thirds and 90% of cases in courts.
They spend 350-400 million in court costs per year. Take into account the funds of the tax authorities themselves.... There is an unconfirmed possibility that the state is working in the red.
Recall
Tomorrow, January 25, the Central Interregional Department of the State Tax Service for Large Taxpayers plans to consider the objections filed by the liquidator of Concord Bank to the results of a tax audit that illegally charged almost UAH 400 million in fines on the instructions of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, Danylo Hetmantsev. This was announced by Olena Sosedka, co-owner of JSC Concorde Bank, who is included in the ranking of the 50 most influential women in FinTech as a co-founder of the first Ukrainian fintech ecosystem ConCord Fsintech Solutions.
