The number of blocking tax invoices has increased, which may indicate attempts to put pressure on Business-EBA

The number of blocking tax invoices has increased, which may indicate attempts to put pressure on Business-EBA

Kyiv  •  UNN

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The executive director of the European Business Association reports an increase in the number of cases of blocking tax invoices, which may indicate attempts to put pressure on businesses.

The European Business Association notes an increase in cases of blocking tax invoices, which may be due to attempts to put pressure on businesses. This was announced in an exclusive comment to UNN by the executive director of the European Business Association Anna Derevyanko. 

The association is seeing an increase in reports from member companies about cases of blocking tax invoices, which may be related to attempts to put pressure on businesses. And, unfortunately, so far we do not see effective actions to combat corruption or abuse of power

- Derevyanko noted.

According to her, the EBA initiated a proposal to conduct an audit of the system of blocking tax invoices, however, the Association is convinced that this should be done by an independent anti-corruption institution.

"It seems unfair to us that the pressure of the tax service or law enforcement agencies is most felt by virtuous businesses that conduct transparent activities. While companies in the shadows remain mostly out of sight of the mentioned bodies. The association is convinced that such methods of pressure should not be used, especially now, when companies are burdened with numerous wartime problems," Derevyanko added.

Add

Government representative in the Verkhovna Rada Taras Melnychuk said that the Cabinet of ministers instructed the Ministry of finance, the State Audit Service and the state tax service to conduct an audit of the system of blocking tax invoices within 6 months. The audit will concern 2021-2023 and will be conducted in compliance with the decision of the national security and Defense Council.

Recall

Blocking tax invoices is one of the main problems that Ukrainian entrepreneurs complain about in the field of tax administration. In general, as indicated  in the statistics of the Business Ombudsman Council, in the third quarter of 2023, 57% of complaints from business representatives related to tax issues. According to MP Mykhailo Tsymbalyuk, blocking tax invoices has become a serious problem, which threatens the national security of Ukraine, as it stops the activities of enterprises and disrupts economic operations.

As business ombudsman Roman Vashchuk noted, the problem for business is not even in the level of taxes, but in the style of administration. In addition, he added that the tax and customs authorities lose 90-94% of cases in the courts – either in the first instance or in an appeal to the Supreme Court.