The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine brings the norms of the Tax Code of Ukraine to the new version of the nomenclature of the Customs Tariff of Ukraine. The adopted Law (on the basis of draft law No. 10321-1 of December 21, 2023) eliminates inconsistencies in the coding of goods, including excise goods, and simplifies the administration of VAT, excise tax, corporate income tax, and personal income tax.
In addition, the law provides for changes to the tax Code regarding:
- introduction of technical amendments regarding the replacement of the concept of “fixed funds” with the concept of “fixed assets”;
- exclusion from the list of corporate income tax rates applied to the income of non-residents, the rate of 20%, which was applied to the income of non-residents for the production and/or distribution of advertising, in connection with the 2 exclusion from the Tax Code of the provisions on taxation of such income.
Corresponding changes were introduced by Law of Ukraine No. 1525-IX of June 3, 2021 “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding the abolition of taxation of income received by non-residents in the form of payment for the production and/or distribution of advertising, and improvement of the procedure for taxation of value added tax on transactions on the provision of electronic services to individuals by non-residents” and entered into force in July 2021;
- replacing the term “statutory fund” with the term “statutory capital”;
- bringing the terminology into line with the legislation on rehabilitation in the field of health care regarding the replacement of the words “rehabilitation center” with the words “rehabilitation institution” for a clear and unambiguous interpretation of legal norms.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has supported draft law No. 10062 on the modernization of the electronic register of military records.
The introduction of innovations does not imply automatic mobilization. At the same time, the draft law will help to improve the registration of conscripts, those liable for military service and reservists. It will also give the Ministry of Defense the opportunity to strengthen the defense capabilities of our country, in particular, cyber defense and the right to place its IT systems in the military cloud storage of NATO member countries.
It is known that personal data of conscripts, those liable for military service and reservists will not be entered into the registers regarding information about leaving Ukraine and returning back, information about enforcement of a judgment against a debtor (details of an executive document) and other personal data that make it possible to identify a person
The main task of the Register is standardization and digital optimization of military records. The adopted decisions should facilitate an effective and fair mobilization process, eliminating opportunities for abuse and corruption risks.
An important point of the draft law is the possibility to obtain the cobatant status online, provided that all information is in the system.
The law on the unified state register of conscripts, those liable for military service and reservists was adopted back in March 2017. In December 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers issued a resolution defining the details of its launch.
The purpose of the creation of the electronic system "Oberih" is to ensure military registration of citizens of Ukraine. It contains information on all conscripts, those liable for military service and reservists aged 18 to 60. This simplifies the process of mobilization to the ranks of the Armed Forces during the war, despite the fact that automatic mobilization does not occur. This, in turn, increases the efficiency of the Territorial staffing center and helps prevent corruption.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has made changes to Resolution No. 76 of January 27, 2023, which regulates the reservation of those liable for military servie during martial law, regarding the reservation of employees of enterprises of the defense and industrial complex. The relevant decision was adopted at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on January 16, 2024.
According to the adopted decision, employees of enterprises, institutions and organizations determined by the Ministry of Strategic Industries to be of critical importance in the field of the defense-industrial complex are reserved:
- regardless of military rank, age and military accounting specialty;
- without restrictions on the number of those liable for miltary service subject to reservation.
The The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine the project of the Law "On Amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine on the Implementation of Certain Provisions of the Customs Code of the European Union" (reg. No. 10411).
The draft law aims to introduce European practices in the implementation of customs affairs in Ukraine, to bring national legislation closer to the legislation of the European Union, to implement Chapter 5 of Section IV of the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their states -members, on the other hand.
The draft Law proposes, taking into account the best European practices:
- to introduce new terms and bring the existing terminology of the Customs Code of Ukraine in line with the terminology of European legislation, in particular Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council (EU) No. 952/2013 of October 9, 2013 on the establishment of the Customs Code of the Union;
- to introduce the concept of customs representation, similar to the one that functions in the EU countries, defining the general principles of representation, dividing the types of representation into direct and indirect, distinguishing the responsibility of the subject of foreign economic activity and the customs representative;
- to improve the criteria for granting authorizations, as a result of the existing need to eliminate inaccuracies in wording after the start of consideration of applications for granting authorization for the application of simplifications;
- to introduce a European approach to the generalization of provisions regarding customs regimes, in particular to supplement the Customs Code with new articles that provide for changes regarding:
1) authorizations for placing goods in the customs regimes of import (as part of the final use procedure), temporary importation, processing in the customs territory, processing outside the customs territory;
2) introduction of conditions for document storage and record keeping as conditions for obtaining authorization;
3) determination of the mechanism of transfer of rights and obligations of the authorization holder (procedure holder);
4) provision of the opportunity to move goods that are under customs control within the framework of the relevant customs regime, without placing the goods in the customs transit regime;
5) expansion of the list of ordinary operations with goods and clear regulation of the requirements for their implementation;
6) equivalent goods and conditions of their use;
7) completion and termination of customs procedures, reporting on completion of customs procedures;
8) features of monitoring compliance with the conditions specified in the authorization for placing goods under customs regime;
- bring the provisions of the Customs Code on delivery, presentation of goods, as well as their temporary storage under customs control into compliance with EU Regulations;
- improve Chapter VII of the Customs Code regarding the storage of goods, commercial vehicles in warehouses of customs authorities and their disposal;
- improve Chapter XIV of the Customs Code regarding the promotion of protection of intellectual property rights during the movement of goods across the customs border of Ukraine in order to implement the measures provided for by the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025;
- change the regulations regarding some types of activities, the control of which is carried out by customs authorities.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted as a basis the draft law "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine on Establishing Criminal Liability for Unauthorized Interference, Sale or Dissemination of Information Processed in Public Electronic Registers and Strengthening Criminal Liability During Martial Law for Criminal Offenses in the Use of Information and Communication Systems" (reg. No. 10242).
Its purpose is to establish criminal liability for unauthorized interference, sale or distribution of information processed in public electronic registers, and to strengthen criminal liability during martial law for criminal offenses in the field of use of information and communication systems.
The adoption of this draft law will make it possible to bring the legislation on criminal liability of Ukraine into compliance with the Law of Ukraine "On Public Electronic Registers", in particular by establishing criminal liability for violations of legislation in the field of registers regarding the use of register data, allowing unauthorized distribution and inappropriate use of data with limited access.
The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, by Order No. 698 of December 13, 2023, made changes to the Procedure for submitting notifications on opening/closing taxpayer accounts in banks and other financial institutions to supervisory bodies. Order No. 698 was amended by Order No. 5 of the Ministry of Finance of January 4, 2024.
Changes are made to the rules of the Procedure for submitting notifications on the opening/closing of taxpayer accounts in banks and other financial institutions to supervisory bodies, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 721 of August 18, 2015 (as amended by Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 292 of July 9, 2019) (further – Order No. 721), in accordance with the provisions of Law of Ukraine No. 2888-IX of January 12, 2023 "On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and Other Legislative Acts of Ukraine regarding Payment Services".
Order No. 721 is supplemented with provisions according to which, simultaneously with banks and other financial institutions, the exchange of information regarding the opening/closing of accounts for taxpayers will also take place between the State Tax Service and non-bank payment service providers, as well as provisions according to which the exchange of information regarding the opening/closing of electronic wallets will take place between the State Tax Service and issuers of electronic money.
Accordingly, the title of Order No. 721 has been changed. Now it is called as follows: Procedure for submitting notifications on opening/closing of accounts/electronic wallets of taxpayers in banks, other financial institutions, non-bank payment service providers/issuers of electronic money to regulatory bodies.
Thus, the Procedure has been brought into compliance with the provisions of Law of Ukraine No. 2888-IX of November 12, 2023.
