The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine by Order No. 952 of February 17, 2023, approved the Criteria for determining enterprises, institutions and organizations that are important for the branches of the national economy.
Enterprises, institutions, organizations are defined as important for the branches of the national economy, if they meet at least one of the following criteria:
1) provide support and monitor the investment projects in accordance with the decision of the CMU or the Ministry of Economy;
2) implement state policy in accordance with the laws, the formation of which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy;
3) receive financial state support in the form of grants in accordance with the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Development and State Support of Small and Medium Enterprises in Ukraine’, the Procedure for the Implementation of an Experimental Project on Providing Competitive Financial Support to Startups in Ukraine, including in the Information Technology Sector, approved by CMU Resolution No. 736 of June 24,2022, the Procedure for providing micro-grants for the creation or development of business, approved by CMU Resolution No. 738 of June 21, 2022, the Procedure for providing grants for the creation or development of processing enterprises, approved by CMU Resolution No. 739 of June 24, 2022, in 2022-2023;
4) perform works and provide services for the Ministry of Economy on the basis of treaties (agreements, memoranda, contracts) concluded for a period of at least six months;
5) stay in the sphere of management of the Ministry of Economy and execute state orders;
6) average salary of the employees of the enterprise, institution, organization that carries out activities in the field, the formation and/or implementation of the policy of which is ensured by the Ministry of Economy, is not lower than the average salary throughout the country, multiplied by 1.5;
7) carry out activities on the territory of three or more regions of Ukraine in the field, the formation and/or implementation of the policy of which is ensured by the Ministry of Economy;
8) implement a type of production or provision of services that provides the needs of other enterprises, institutions, organizations in material and technical resources, raw materials and components, the absence of which will lead to a complete shutdown of production or provision of services, in the field the formation and/or implementation of the policy of which is ensured by the Ministry of Economy.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine has clarified the specifics of the definition of the ‘first’ and ‘subsequent’ violation related to the improper use of the payment transactions recorder/software payment transactions recorder (PTR/SPTR). In accordance with item 1 of Article 3 of Law of Ukraine No. 265/95-ВР of July 7, 1995 ‘On the use of payment transactions recorder in the sphere of trade, public catering and services’ (hereinafter - Law No. 265), business entities are obliged to conduct settlement transactions for the full amount of the purchase (service provision) through registered, sealed in the established order and transferred to the fiscal mode of operation PTR or through the software PTR registered by the fiscal server of the controlling body with the corresponding settlement documents in paper and/or electronic form confirming the execution of the settlement operations, or in the cases provided for by this Law, with the use of account books registered in the prescribed manner.
According to Art. 2 of Law No. 265 settlement transaction is the acceptance of cash, payment cards, payment checks, tokens, etc. from the buyer at the place of sale of goods (services), issuance of cash for goods returned by the buyer (non-provided service), and in the case of using a bank payment card – registration the corresponding settlement document for non-cash payment of goods (services) by the buyer's bank or, in case of return of the goods (refusal of the service), processing of settlement documents for the transfer of funds to the buyer's bank.
Thus, the business entity is obliged to apply the PTR/SPTR during the implementation of each settlement operation.
According to paragraph 113.3 of the Tax Code, in the event that a taxpayer commits two or more violations of other legislation, the control of compliance with which is entrusted to the supervisory authorities, punitive (financial) sanctions (fines) are applied for each committed one-time and ongoing violation separately.
The above is consistent with the judicial practice of the Supreme Court (ruling dated February 22, 2022 in case No. 640/4426/19), since the sale of goods without the use of PTR and/or SPTR is not a continuous violation, and the failure to issue a cashier's check during each sale of the product is recognized as a separate violation, then subsequent non-use of PTR and/or SPTR when selling goods (providing services) is a separate violation, i.e. subsequent non-use of PTR and/or SPTR or failure to issue a check will be considered a repeated violation.
At the same time, the qualifying feature of such an offense is the repetition of the corresponding act, which is established in the case of a person committing several offenses.
Thus, in the event that, during the inspection of the business entity, duly confirmed facts of repeated violations of the requirements for the use of PTR and/or SPTR are detected, financial sanctions are applied to the business entity, in particular, for the first of such operations – a fine, as for the first violation, and for each subsequent violation – as for the next violation.
The National Bank of Ukraine by Resolution No. 16 of March 3, 2023 ‘On the approval of the Instructions on the execution of interbank payment transactions in Ukraine in the national currency" regulated the issue of the execution of interbank payment transactions in Ukraine in the national currency through the new generation of the electronic payment system (hereinafter – SEP).
This document enters into force on April 1, 2023, except for the rule on mandatory crediting of funds for a payment transaction to the recipient's account within an hour, which will be effective from April 1, 2024.
The new generation of SEP will operate from April 1, 2023 on the basis of the international standard ISO 20022 and in a 24/7 mode:
- ISO 20022 standard unifies payment documents, creates uniform principles for their filling and processing, expands the requisite composition of payment instructions with additional information, which makes it possible to automate payment operations and improve the level of customer service;
- 24-hour operation mode of the SEP provides for the execution of interbank payment transactions without suspending the operation of this system and an instant transition from the current to the next calendar day. The amount of the executed payment instruction will be displayed on the SEP participant's account on the date of the calendar day on which it was carried out through the SEP.
In this regard, the National Bank, in particular:
- established a new procedure for conducting interbank payment transactions through the accounts of SEP participants in terms of the rules for forming, exchanging and processing electronic messages;
- updated the procedure for entering information on the inclusion or exclusion of a SEP participant to/from the SEP participant Directory;
- updated the procedure for carrying out interbank payment transactions by the bank and its branches according to the consolidated correspondent account service model;
- established requirements for the list of information and details about the non-bank payment service provider, which will be contained in the Directory of non-bank payment service providers;
- settled the issue of performance by SEP participants of interbank payment transactions of non-bank payment service providers;
- updated the procedure for performing interbank payment operations in national currency through correspondent accounts opened by resident banks in other resident banks.
As of April 1, 2023, the Instruction on the execution of interbank payment transactions in Ukraine in the national currency, approved by Resolution No. 320 of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine of August 16, 2006, will expire.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine and the State Labor Service are teaming up with other bodies to intensify work aimed at overcoming the phenomenon of undeclared work.
The joining of efforts takes place through the organization of cooperation and social dialogue. For this purpose, inter-regional territorial administrations of State Labor Service have created inter department working groups, which form road maps for bringing labor relations into compliance with legislation at the regional level. State bodies, local self-government bodies and social partners are involved in this work.
At this stage, work is organized to identify business entities that do not enter into labor contracts with employees, and a list of them is being formed in order to organize further measures to encourage such employers to properly formalize labor relations.
In order to inform business entities about the risks of undeclared work, the State Tax Service of Ukraine sends information messages developed by the State Labor Service to all taxpayers. Such work is part of a joint information campaign regarding the role of the registration of labor relations under martial law in ensuring the economic stability of the state.
The President of Ukraine signed the Law on the cancellation of tokens.
In Ukraine, a project has been implemented to ensure the possibility of using improved electronic signatures and seals, which are based on qualified public key certificates.
A feature of the use of an advanced electronic signature or seal is to enable the user of electronic trust services to use an ordinary data medium (for example, USB-Flash, CD, DVD) as a carrier of the personal key of the electronic signature for electronic interaction, electronic identification and authentication.
This is different from a qualified electronic signature or seal, the private key of which must be stored in a means of a qualified electronic signature or seal, which has built-in hardware and software tools that ensure the protection of data recorded on them from unauthorized access, direct reading of the value of parameters private keys and their copying (protected private key carrier or token).
The use of advanced electronic signatures and seals in cases provided for by law significantly reduces the expenditures of users of electronic trust services on the purchase of a personal key carrier.
In this regard, the Verkhovna Rada has adopted Law ‘On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine on Electronic Identification and Electronic Trust Services’ No. 2918-IX of February 7, 2023.
The law provides for the possibility of using advanced electronic signatures, which are based on qualified public key certificates, and means of electronic identification with a similar level of trust.
Thus, the business was freed from the obligation to use the QES, the private key of which is stored in a secure medium or token.
Of course, at its own request, the business entity can store its QES in a protected data medium.
The law will enter into force on December 31, 2023, except for some provisions.
