Bill increasing tax rates signed into law in Ukraine
MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) - President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky signed a bill envisaging raising the military levy from 1.5% to 5% and a number of other amendments to the Ukrainian Tax Code into a law on Thursday, Ukrainian media outlets said with a reference to the law's record on the Verkhovna Rada's website.
The law will enter into effect on December 1.
According to media outlets, Verkhovna Rada member Yaroslav Zheleznyak said he believed the law would bring UAH 8 billion in 2024 and UAH 141 billion in 2025, whereas the Ukrainian Finance Ministry expected that the tax amendments would bring UAH 58 billion to the state budget for 2024 and UAH 137 billion to the state budget for 2025.
In addition, the Finance Ministry expressed hope that sufficient financial resources would allow the government not to amend the Tax Code next year in order to mobilize additional resources, the press said.
"The situation is changeable and can require additional demand, but at present, taking into account that we have guaranteed securing the obligations through our key partners, no other amendments to the Tax Code are planned," media outlets cited Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko as saying at a briefing.
As reported, in addition to the tax law, Zelensky also signed into law a bill on the state budget of Ukraine for 2025 envisaging expenditures of UAH 3.6 trillion and revenues of UAH 2.05 trillion on Thursday.
As reported, on October 10, the Verkhovna Rada adopted as a whole a bill amending the Tax Code concerning specifics of taxation under martial law. The bill envisioned raising the military levy from 1.5% to 5% from October 1, 2024, the profit tax for banks to 50% for 2024 and increasing a number of other taxes and levies.
The European Business Association, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs, the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, the Independent Association of the Banks of Ukraine, and the Forum for Leading International Financial Institutions criticized the bill and urged the state to pay attention to the shadow sector of the economy instead of increasing tax rates.