Tax Legislation Will Not Lead to Increased Taxes for Entrepreneurs, Says Yaroslav Zheleznyak

In Ukraine, discussions are ongoing regarding tax legislation that the Verkhovna Rada plans to adopt this week. Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak confirmed in an interview with Radio NV that these bills will not result in higher taxes for individual entrepreneurs (FOPs), despite speculation to the contrary.

“While there is a temptation for me, as part of the opposition, to say that these are bills that foresee tax increases for FOPs, none of them are such. Moreover, it would probably be fair to say that some of these laws actually foresee a reduction in taxation, including for FOPs,” Zheleznyak stated, emphasizing that the government introduced these proposals to meet the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The deputy elaborated on a key point concerning the extension of the military tax, which, according to him, should end after the war concludes. “The military tax has been increased to 5%, previously it was 1.5%. The government wants to extend this 5% for another three years after the end of the war. I do not support this position,” he stressed, pointing out that the military tax is essentially a tax on legitimate businesses.

Zheleznyak also noted that the military tax has been contributing to the general fund of the state budget since 2013. “This is exactly the same tax as all others. You will find among my political colleagues that many will say that a special fund should be created to which these taxes will go, and it will only be spent on military needs. In my opinion, this has no practical significance,” he added, emphasizing that actual expenditures on security and defense always exceed the revenues from the military tax.