MP: The Tax Service has not become a service agency and needs to be rebooted

The tax service in Ukraine has not become a service service, and there are questions as to whether the reform of the State Tax Service has taken place at all. Therefore, it needs a complete reboot. This opinion was expressed by MP Mykhailo Tsymbalyuk in an exclusive commentary to UNN .

What to do (reform and a complete reboot - ed.) is a big question. First, we need to talk about whether the reform that has been talked about so much, including the reform of the BES, which actually inherited all the negatives that the tax police had, has taken place at all. And many of those employees moved to this service. If we talk about the work of the tax service in general, it has not turned into a service service, unfortunately

He added that the tax authorities continue to massively block tax invoices and did not rule out that this is done to make someone "come and beg.

"That's why there has been no reform, and we see numerous cases of corruption. Here, on the one hand, we need to talk about the salaries of the tax officers themselves, which are not so high as to avoid the corruption component, and on the other hand, responsibility," the MP emphasized, adding that high-profile detentions of tax officers have no logical continuation in the form of investigations and referrals to court, because there are no imprisonments and confiscation of property.

Another problem with the tax office, according to Tsymbalyuk, is the status of "acting". Ukrainian legislation allows officials to be in the acting status for three months, but the tax authority's management has been working in this way for several years.

"And this relieves them of responsibility. If something goes wrong, they hire someone, fire them, and think it's over, and then rehire someone acting. It is necessary to appoint a person and, in case of violation, to bring him or her to justice," emphasized Tsymbalyuk.

Add 

The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv ordered representatives of the State Bureau of Investigation to open criminal proceedings against officials of the State Tax Service following a statement by Olena Sosedka, co-owner of Concord Bank, about severe property damage to the financial institution's shareholders. In her statement, she said that a group of officials had committed an intentional serious crime by exceeding their official authority. In particular, Sosiedka stated that officials of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, in particular the management, including the Central Interregional Department of the State Tax Service for Work with Large Taxpayers, used power or official position against the interests of the service, and also entered knowingly false information into an official document, which caused serious property consequences for the shareholders of JSCB Concord.  Liability for committing these crimes is provided for in Part 2 of Article 364, Part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Despite the fact that the court issued the relevant decision on April 11, 2024, according to Sosedka, investigators have not yet informed her about the execution of the court ruling and the opening of criminal proceedings.

Recall

The State Tax Service conducted an audit of Concord Bank after the NBU's decision to liquidate it. The audit lasted three months and, according to Olena Sosedka, resulted in a report that stated violations totaling UAH 700 thousand. However, according to  Sosedka, on the personal instruction of the head of the Verkhovna Rada Tax Committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, the tax authorities illegally "added" UAH 392 million.

The Deposit Guarantee Fund, represented by the liquidator of Concord Bank, appealed the act to the Central Interregional Department of the State Tax Service for Large Taxpayers. After that, an additional tax audit was ordered, which is still ongoing.