No tax effect from White Business Club – opinion

The creation of a list of taxpayers with a high level of compliance with tax legislation (White Business Club) did not have an impact on the volume of tax revenues to the state budget of Ukraine, according to tax rules expert Danylo Monin.

"The thing is that there are currently no open statistics on VAT collection. We only have general collections and, accordingly, we, unfortunately, cannot talk about it. But if you take into account the fact that in the first quarter of this year it was reported that tax receipts were 14.9% higher than a year ago, despite the fact that the economy nominally grew to zero - so it's just nominal economic growth due to inflation, basically, and that's it," the expert said during a press conference entitled "VAT is trap for manufacturers: promises of State Tax Service, reality of ESB, policy of Economy Ministry " at the press center of Interfax-Ukraine.

Monin noted that small entrepreneurs should not have large administrative expenses. They try to minimize accounting, and this whole system is too complicated and increases business costs, which makes small businesses uncompetitive.

He believes that such a system is very harmful to entrepreneurship and even a small entrepreneur, and small entrepreneurship is often a large employment of the population.

"Accordingly, we also lose employment, jobs, and, accordingly, all this goes to the final economy. In principle, as an effect, it is easier to be in the shadows than to work in the white," he noted.

As reported, on June 18, the Verkhovna Rada approved by 262 votes Bill No. 11084, which defines the criteria for including enterprises in the White Business Club. Taxpayers included in the list will receive a compliance manager, a moratorium on documentary audits (except for certain cases), a reduction in the terms of desk and documentary audits for budget reimbursement, as well as individual tax consultations within five days.

The next day, the Rada also approved an amendment regarding the economic reservation of 25% of employees of companies from the White Business Club.

Currently, the list includes 8,199 names: 4,123 legal entities on the general taxation system, 2,149 legal entities paying a single tax of group III, 984 legal entities paying a single tax of group IV, 211 residents of Diia. City and 732 individual entrepreneurs.