The Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine and the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection with the involvement of business representatives have developed guidelines to prevent the spread of acute respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus at facilities for breeding, keeping, slaughtering and circulating livestock and food production.
The relevant document is based on the WHO Recommendations “COVID-19 and Food Safety: Guidance for Food Businesses” and aims to provide producers and market operators with more
In particular, the Guidelines include:
- information about COVID-19 disease;
- symptoms and ways of infection;
- hygiene, preventive sanitary and anti-epidemic measures;
- procedure for implementing measures to prevent violations in the work and/or temporary suspension of production facilities;
- additional measures to maintain the integrity of food chains and ensure the uninterrupted supply of safe food to end consumers;
- sample declaration, the completion of which is mandatory for entering the territory of the capacity operator;
- indicative list of measures to ensure biological safety, etc.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine, through the Office of Large Taxpayers, explained in detail the VAT features of reimbursement of expenses for the maintenance of leased property.
According to Articles 284 and 286 of the Commercial Code of Ukraine, an essential condition of the lease agreement is, in particular, the rent, which is a fixed payment that the lessee pays to the lessor regardless of the consequences of its business activities. The amount of rent may be changed by agreement of the parties, as well as in other cases provided by law.
According to subitems 14.1.36 of the Tax Code of Ukraine (hereinafter – Tax Code) business activity is the activities of a person associated with the production (manufacturing and/or sale of goods, works, services, aimed at obtaining income and carried out by such person independently and/or through its separate subdivisions, as well as through any other person acting in favor of the first person, in particular under commission agreements, power of attorney and agency agreements.
An integral part of economic activity with real estate is the acquisition by the owner of such property of certain goods and receiving a number of services related to the need to maintain such property, payment of taxes related to movable/immovable property, payroll, etc., as well as setting the amount of rent for movable/immovable property taking into account such costs.
Therefore, in the cost of rent for movable/immovable property, the lessee must provide economic reimbursement (compensation) of all elements of costs associated with the services of renting property.
Item 185.1 of the Tax Code stipulates that the object of value added tax is the supply of goods and services, the place of supply of which is located in the customs territory of Ukraine, in accordance with Art. 186 of the Tax Code.
Item 188.1 of the Tax Code stipulates, in particular, that the tax base of transactions for the supply of goods/services is determined on the basis of their contractual value, taking into account national taxes and fees (except for excise tax on retail sales of excisable goods, mandatory state pension fee insurance that copes with the cost of cellular mobile services, value added tax and excise tax on ethyl alcohol used by producers – businessentities for the production of medicines, including blood components and preparations made from them (except medicines in the form of balms and elixirs).
The contractual value includes any amounts of funds, the value of tangible and intangible assets transferred to the taxpayer directly by the buyer or through any third party in connection with the compensation of the value of goods/services.
The contract value does not include the amount of penalties (fines and/or fees), three percent per annum and inflation, received by the taxpayer due to non-performance or improper performance of contractual obligations.
The tax base includes the cost of goods/services supplied (except for the amount of compensation to cover the difference between actual costs and regulated prices (tariffs) in the form of a production subsidy from the budget and/or the amount of reimbursement to the lessor - budgetary institution the cost of maintenance of leased property, utilities and energy), and the value of tangible and intangible assets transferred to the taxpayer directly by the recipient of goods/services supplied by such taxpayer.
Therefore, if the lessor (except for the budgetary institution) receives funds from the lessee as reimbursement (compensation) of the lessor's expenses incurred by the maintenance of the leased property, such funds are part of the rent and are included by the lessor in the tax base in the generally established manner, including if the lessor and the lessee have entered into separate agreements for lessee to provide compensation for such expenses.
The Ministry of Health of Ukraine by order “On approval of Amendments to the Instruction on the procedure for issuing documents certifying temporary disability of citizens’ No. 963 dated April 27, 2020 allowed for the period of measures aimed at combating coronavirus disease (COVID-19), to open temporary disability leaves by primary care physicians on the basis of the patient's application and questioning by means of telecommunication or Internet with the obligatory corresponding entry in the medical card of the outpatient.
Also for the period of temporary suspension from work of persons whose work is related to the provision of service to the population, who have been in contact with infectious patients or are carriers, in case of impossibility of their temporary transfer with consent to another job not associated with the risk of infectious diseases, a temporary disability leave will be issued by an infectious disease doctor or attending physician on the basis of the results of research by laboratory centers of the Ministry of Health.
For the period of the insured person's stay in self-isolation, observation, in temporary health care facilities (specialized hospitals), in health care facilities, as well as in self-isolation under medical supervision in connection with quarantine, except for sick persons, attending physician will issue temporary disability leave for a period determined by the legislation and industry standards in the field of health care.
The State Labor Service of Ukraine has clarified who should be left to work during the personnel reduction.
As you know, item 1 of Part 1 of Art. 40 of the Labor Code of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Labor Code) provides for the possibility of dismissal of an employee at the initiative of the owner or authorized body in connection with changes in the organization of production and labor, including reduction in the number of staff. According to Art. 42 of the Labor Code in the event of a reduction in the number or staff, the preemptive right to stay at work is granted to employees with higher qualifications and efficiency.
At the same time, under equal conditions of labor productivity and qualification, the advantage in keeping the job is given to the following employees:
- who have family with two or more dependents;
- persons whose families do not have other self-employed workers;
- employees with long continuous work experience at this enterprise, institution, organization;
- employees who study in higher and secondary special educational institutions without separation from production;
- participants in hostilities, war invalids and persons covered by the Law of Ukraine “On the status of war veterans, guarantees of their social protection”;
- authors of inventions, utility models, industrial designs and innovation proposals;
- employees who received an occupational injury or occupational disease at this enterprise, institution, organization;
- persons deported from Ukraine within five years from the time of return to permanent residence in Ukraine;
- employees from among former conscripts and persons who have served alternative (non-military) service - within two years from the date of their discharge from service.
Under the general rule of terminating an employment contract with an employee, the owner or authorized body is obliged to notify the employee personally no later than two months before dismissal, while offering the employee another job at the same company.
If the employee to be dismissed does not agree to the job offered, he/she carries out further employment independently or through the state employment service, where the employer is obliged to provide information on the subsequent dismissal of employees, indicating their professions, specialties, qualifications and salary .
The State Labor Service emphasizes that under Part 2 of Art. 40 of the Labor Code dismissal of employees in connection with changes in the organization of production and labor is allowed only if the employee can not be transferred with his/her consent to another job.
It is also not allowed to dismiss the employee at the initiative of the owner or authorized body during his/her temporary disability to work (except for dismissal in case of absence from work for more than four consecutive months due to temporary disability to work, excluding maternity leave, if the legislation does not establish a longer period of preservation of the place of work (position) during a certain illness), as well as during the period of the employee's leave. This rule does not apply in the case of complete liquidation of the enterprise, institution, organization (Part 3 of Article 40 of the Labor Code).
In some cases, the dismissal of the employee requires the prior consent of the elected body (trade union representative) of the primary trade union organization of which the employee is a member.
