Why does the state introduce a tax amnesty? Igor Shavrov, a well-known lawyer who manages the "Shavrov and Partners" law office, tells how it is treated and what consequences are expected.
So, the adopted law provides for a mixed form of amnesty, according to which the state forgives previous non-payment of taxes and legalizes assets obtained through unknown means (amnesty of assets). To do this, it is enough to open up to the state and pay a small percentage, which is less than the amount of tax for other citizens.
It will last from September 1, 2021 to September 1, 2022
In the short term, the state needs to fill the budget, and in the long term, control over citizens' expenses. After all, knowing what people's incomes are (which amnesty will help reveal), it will be very easy to determine in the future whether their expenses exceed their incomes.
From the first sentence of the law, it is said about "voluntariness" - but behind it, the complete opposite is hidden. If a person does not submit such a declaration, he confirms that he has paid all taxes in full and that his assets do not exceed the following limits:
an apartment with an area of no more than 120 square meters;
a house with an area of no more than 240 square meters;
non-residential premises of no more than 60 square meters;
land plots with an area that does not exceed the norms of free transfer under the Land Code;
one vehicle; for the purposes of declaration, such a vehicle is not considered a vehicle for transporting 10 or more people; the car is more expensive than UAH 2,25 million; airplane, helicopter, yacht, boat;
other assets, the total value of which does not exceed UAH 400.
If the limits are exceeded, but the person kept silent about it, did not submit a declaration, then when making significant expenses, which will be clearly higher, the relevant authorities and banks may have questions.
Unfair equalization
Let's imagine that you have savings that you made in full accordance with the law, but that exceed the established limits — and there is another person who received savings as a result of non-payment of taxes. So, the law completely equates you with him and asks the same. Therefore, if you do not inform the state about such savings, then in the future, when you go to buy an apartment or a house with such savings, you may have questions. And you will have to prove the legality of the origin of such saved. In turn, the second person, who has not paid taxes for years, will simply withdraw his assets, pay a reduced tax, and there will be no more questions about him.
The law directly states that assets obtained as a result of: evasion of tax payments, EAW, violated in the sphere of currency legislation and in the sphere of protection of economic competition may be the objects of declaration.
We believe that such an equalization will lead to an even greater decrease in public morality in terms of paying taxes, when people will not be interested in paying taxes in general, because it is possible to wait for the next amnesty and pay them at reduced rates.
The most relevant question: what about cash? The above violations presuppose that a significant part of the assets will be kept in the form of cash.
The object of declaration cannot be hryvnias or currency in cash form, therefore the law converts them into a non-cash form, namely: it suggests that you place them in a special bank account, where they will be kept, while the procedure for declaration and payment of taxes and fees takes place these funds. The offer is interesting, but the law does not say whether you will have the opportunity to withdraw the funds in the future and how long these money will "hang" on this account.
It is also interesting that such funds are not exempt from financial monitoring. Banks are obliged to check the sources of the origin of assets, and in turn, the tax authority has no right to ask about the sources of such income. But still, we do not think that the information received by the bank will not become the property of the tax authorities, which will certainly be able to take note of this information.
Amnesty, in addition, provides that declared property is not subject to criminal and administrative liability, and this property cannot be evidence in court. That is, the logic of the law is such that if you are "declared", you can live peacefully and not be afraid that the tax office or the prosecutor's office will come after you. In fact, the law itself does not state that such a person will not have questions about the legality of assets and that he is protected from claims by these authorities regarding other assets. which belong to her.
It should also be noted here that liability cannot be incurred only under specific articles, for example, Art. 212, 212-1 of the Criminal Code, or, for example, Art. 155-1, 162, 162-1, 163-1, etc. of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Other articles not described in this law can be successfully applied, especially to relatives of officials.
If part of the assets is declared, and part is not, then the undeclared part may be liable in the general manner.
After submitting the declaration, it is checked, according to the results of which the tax authority can request documents to verify the correctness of the calculated amount of tax to be paid or the validity of the assets within 1 year. And if such documents are not provided at the request of the body, the general rate may be applied.
What to do if you want to "amnesty"?
If you still want to "amnesty", you can declare such assets:
currency values placed on bank accounts;
real estate, both in Ukraine and abroad;
movable property;
the right to claim property rights (dividends, shares in companies, etc.).
and other assets.
But not all property needs to be declared. The law defined the limit: for example, assets worth up to UAH 400, apartments up to 000 square meters and houses up to 120 square meters are not subject to declaration.
To declare, you will need to submit the appropriate declaration to the tax authorities together with documents that confirm the monetary value of the asset, a fee of 30%, 5% or 9%, depending on the type of asset, will be paid within 2,5 days from the moment of submitting the declaration September 1, 2021 to September 1, 2022.
Let's summarize. On the one hand, the law has shortcomings: it calls into question the legality of the incomes of all citizens who fall under its criteria. Although in fact it could concern only those who evaded tax for a long time. On the other hand, it gives an opportunity to bring out the dishonestly acquired property from the shadows and declare it at reduced rates.
So whether to declare or not is up to you only if you trust the state's guarantees.
The question of how banks will treat such a source of confirmation of funds as a "special declaration within the framework of the tax amnesty" will remain ambiguous. Foreign investors may also have serious doubts about cooperation with entrepreneurs who show "amnesty" income as the main source of their capital.
As for zero declaration, there remain the problems of low trust of citizens in state authorities, lack of confidence that the "rules of the game" will not be changed tomorrow by another law or by-law, and the subjects of declaration will not be under threat. Taking into account the pros and cons mentioned above, it is impossible to predict today what scenario the "zero declaration" campaign will take in Ukraine.
