December 11 – 15, 2023. Criteria for monitoring registration actions have been improved

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, by Order No. 633 of November 15, 2023, “On Amendments to the Procedure for the Electronic Cabinet Functioning”, has expanded the list of tax information that can be provided to a counterparty with the prior consent of the taxpayer in the amount determined by the latter.

Thus, Appendix 5 to the Procedure for the Electronic Cabinet Functioning defines the appropriate form, which contains the following tax information with the prior consent of the taxpayer in the amount determined by the latter, in particular, information regarding:

• registration and accounting data of the taxpayer,
• transfer pricing, tax and financial reporting,
• tax debt,
• amounts of accrued and paid tax liabilities,
• types of economic activity,
• the list of goods according to the UKT FEA,
• inclusion in / exclusion from the list of taxpayers who meet the risk criteria of the taxpayer.

In addition, in order to minimize the risks of taxpayers, the form of Appendix 5 has been supplemented with information contained in the tables of the VAT payer's data taken into account.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, at its meeting on December 9, 2023, adopted the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the criminalization of smuggling of goods and excise goods, as well as false declaration of goods" (Reg. No. 5420).

The Law amends articles 201 ("Smuggling of cultural values and weapons") and 201¹ ("Smuggling of timber and valuable tree species") of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and supplements the Code with new articles 201³ ("Smuggling of goods"), 201⁴ ("Smuggling of excise goods"), which establish criminal liability for smuggling goods and excise goods.

Therefore, the Law establishes the thresholds from which criminal liability arises:

according to article 201³ ("Smuggling of goods") – committed in a significant amount – if the total value of the contraband items exceeds UAH 6,710,000 or more, in a large amount – UAH 26,840,000 or more;

according to article 201⁴ ("Smuggling of excise goods") – committed in a significant amount – if the total value of the contraband items (except electricity) exceeds UAH 1,006,500 or more, in a large amount – UAH 2,013,000 or more.

Amendments are also made to Article 216 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, which deprives investigators of security agencies of the right to conduct pre-trial investigations in criminal proceedings provided for in Article 201¹ of the Criminal Code, and detectives of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine are empowered to conduct pre-trial investigations in criminal proceedings provided for in Articles 201¹, 201³, 201⁴ of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

At the same time, it is determined that the pre-trial investigation of the crimes provided for in Article 201¹ of the Criminal Code, information about which was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations before the date of entry into force of this Law, continues to be carried out by investigators of the security agencies.

The adoption of the Law will contribute to the cessation of schemes of illegal movement of goods, which will have a positive impact on the development of the national economy, in particular in terms of increasing tax revenues to the State Budget of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has published the draft order "On Amendments to Order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine No. 13 of January 21, 2016" (hereinafter – the draft order).

The draft order provides for:

• possibility of specifying the simplified name of the product in the fiscal receipt and using it to determine the group of goods or services of the State Classifier of Products and Services (DK 016:2010);
• determining the identifier of the electronic excise tax stamp/serial number of the electronic excise tax stamp as a mandatory requisite of the settlement document in the case of retail trade in alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and liquids used in electronic cigarettes;
• supplementing the settlement document forms with passport document details and information necessary to control the volumes of sold tobacco products and alcoholic beverages (for duty-free shops);
• defining the concepts "payment terminal connected to the registrar of settlement operations/software registrar of settlement operations" and payment terminal connected to the registrar of settlement operations/software registrar of settlement operations";
• number of technical amendments for the purpose of terminological consistency of Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 13 of January 21, 2016 "On the approval of the Regulation on the form and content of settlement documents/electronic settlement documents, the procedure for submitting reports related to the use of accounting books of settlement operations (settlement books), form No. ЗВР-1 of the Report on the use of accounting books of settlement operations (settlement books)" with the norms of other legislation, in particular legislation in the field of payment services.

The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has improved the criteria for monitoring registration actions.

System changes have been made to:

• Procedure for state registration of property rights to immovable property and their encumbrances,
• Procedure for the Ministry of Justice to exercise control over activities in the field of state registration of real property rights and their encumbrances and state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and public organizations,
• Resolution of the CMU No. 164 of February 28, 2022 "Some issues of notary public service under martial law", designed to improve the activities of state registration entities and notaries and create more convenient conditions for their provision of services to individuals and legal entities.

In particular, the Procedure for the Ministry of Justice to exercise control over activities in the field of state registration of property rights to immovable property and their encumbrances and state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, and public organizations was supplemented with new criteria for monitoring registration actions in the registers of natural and legal persons. to which sanctions have been applied in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Sanctions".

The procedure for carrying out and recording the results of a desk check has also been improved, the issue of testing knowledge of legislation in the field of state registration and determining its results for persons who intend to carry out relevant activities in safe conditions has been standardized.

Amendments to CMU Resolution No. 164 of February 2, 2022 and CMU Resolution No. 209 of March 6, 2022 "Some issues of state registration and operation of unified and state registers, the holder of which is the Ministry of Justice in the conditions of martial law", are scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2024, related to the termination of previously established restrictions and prohibitions and the procedure for their application.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted draft law No. 10023 as a whole, amending Chapter XV "Final Provisions" of the Law of Ukraine "On the National Bank of Ukraine".

The document stipulates that during the period of martial law, the NBU is given the right to transfer to the sphere of administration of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine the property that the National Bank has acquired in order to pay off debt for loans granted by banks to maintain liquidity.

The transfer of such property will be carried out by the National Bank free of charge, with the value of such property reflected in the accounting records as part of expenses that are not included in the costs of the estimate of administrative expenses of the National Bank of Ukraine.

In view of this, it is proposed to give the National Bank the right to ensure the needs of the state in repelling armed aggression against Ukraine, free of charge, in accordance with the procedure established by law, to transfer to the sphere of management of the Ministry of Defense the property acquired by the National Bank in order to repay the debt due to loans granted by banks to maintain liquidity.

If the Law is signed by the President, it will enter into force on the day following its publication.

The National Bank of Ukraine has updated its organizational structure and created the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection.

According to the Law of Ukraine "On Critical Infrastructure" (hereinafter – the Law), the National Bank must ensure the fulfillment of the tasks and functions of the subject of the national critical infrastructure protection system, the sectoral body in the field of critical infrastructure protection, and the operator of critical infrastructure.

Previously, part of the functions for the protection of critical infrastructure were performed by the Security Department of the National Bank. At the same time, in view of the expansion of functions for the protection of critical infrastructure in the financial sector and with the aim of increasing the efficiency of the relevant tasks in this area, the National Bank created a separate department within its structure.

The Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection of the NBU will ensure the formation and implementation by the National Bank of the state policy in the field of critical infrastructure protection and will perform the functions assigned to the National Bank by the Law.

The Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection is part of the "Payment Systems and Cash Circulation" vertical.