Last week, the main news was probably the possible changes in tax legislation to implement agreements with the IMF. It was about the introduction of the so-called OLX tax and the duty on parcels, as well as changes in the taxation of sole proprietors. As for the latter, in the end, the deputies from the parliamentary majority announced that the adoption of a decision on changes for simplified tax payers was postponed indefinitely.
The Ministry of Finance also voiced its position on this issue, stating in the office of the Select Committee: “The Ministry of Finance is open to the process of developing a comprehensive decision on changes in approaches to VAT taxation for individual entrepreneurs working on a simplified tax system, in consultation with business, specialized associations, the expert community and other interested parties. The proposed approaches should ensure conditions where entrepreneurs work under equal rules for all, and those who use the simplified system for aggressive optimization, business fragmentation, “gray imports”, smuggling, etc. do not receive unjustified advantages.”
The Ministry of Finance stated that the implementation of the changes is planned no earlier than 2027, which, according to the ministry, provides enough time to finalize the changes, formulate a solution to facilitate administration and reporting, conduct public discussions and prepare businesses. Officials assure that this is “not about the automatic cancellation of privileges in VAT registration, but about the formation of a balanced approach that will simultaneously strengthen the fight against shadow schemes and protect honest small businesses.” They also assured that the government does not plan to increase basic tax rates, but instead focuses on de-shadowing, improving administration and expanding the tax base. Therefore, the planned changes should ensure fairer conditions for business: when entrepreneurs with similar turnovers work according to the same rules and do not compete with those who use tax loopholes.
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko touched on potential changes in taxation at a recent meeting with business representatives, where he emphasized: no one is going to raise tax rates. Instead, they are going to:
adopt draft laws on taxation of income from digital platforms (according to the minister, “There is no discussion here. I think the committee and parliament will adopt this law”);
level the playing field for “simplified” businesses and business entities that are VAT payers, determine common limits for these groups of payers;
to resolve the issue of taxation of international parcels (according to the minister, “most operators who import legally and sell their products have turned out to be uncompetitive due to the fact that we have a predominance of imported products. And this significantly affects the balance of payments of Ukraine. The issue of taxation of parcels is important and it will partially level out the negative trends that are on the market”).
Serhiy Marchenko announced his intention to introduce European taxation practices for parcels with foreign goods: at the stage of purchase in a store, when the individual who makes the purchase pays the tax immediately upon purchase. At the same time, he noted: “We should have come to this anyway, we will just come to it in a year. Not right from January 1. We will have time to prepare and adjust.”
Similarly, regarding the changes for simplified tax payers, the minister believes that there will be a transition period until 2027. At the same time, he emphasized: “If you look at the plans that the Ministry of Finance has been preparing for years, they also included this norm. Such measures are not popular, but they are important. And during this period we did not have the opportunity for negotiation maneuver to remove them from the discussion.”
In turn, the Director of the IMF Communications Department, Julia Kozak, stated: The IMF Executive Board will make a decision on a new program for Ukraine only after the authorities fulfill the preconditions, and financing guarantees are provided within the framework of the new agreements. The list of preconditions includes, in particular, the adoption of the state budget for 2026, the expansion of the tax base, which will cover income from online transactions, the elimination of customs loopholes for the import of consumer goods, and the abolition of privileges for registering VAT payers. In addition, according to her, the Ukrainian authorities promised to take countermeasures against the informal economy, “in particular, by strengthening competition in the field of public procurement and eliminating loopholes in the current Labor Code.”
People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak explained: there is such a format as “prior action” – these are beacons that are a mandatory prerequisite for the adoption of the IMF decision. One of such “prior action” was the adoption of the Budget for 2026. “Another “prior action” is the adoption of a package of tax changes, including taxation of income from digital platforms (OLX tax) and the abolition of the benefit (150 euros) for small parcels,” he says.
Regarding individual entrepreneurs and VAT, the situation, according to the People’s Deputy, is as follows: “The government must submit to the Rada a draft law that will make registration of VAT payers mandatory from January 1, 2027 for payers of simplified regimes with a turnover exceeding the general threshold for VAT registration (at the level of 1 million UAH). Pay attention – it is registration.” At the same time, such a law must be adopted by the end of March 2026. Additionally, it is necessary to adopt a resolution for VAT payers in public procurement and submit to the Rada a draft law on amendments to the Labor Code.
Yaroslav Zheleznyak explained this separately: it is assumed that the government will develop and submit to the Rada a draft law on amendments to the definition of “employment” in the Labor Code, in accordance with international practice, in order to reduce the possibility of hidden employment (this is also a prior action). Therefore, new rules for determining employment will be applied to prevent tax evasion of personal income related to hidden employment relationships. At the same time, control over compliance with this definition of “employment” by the State Labor Service will be strengthened.
The Ukrainian government will also have to submit to the Rada in 2026 further amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine to exclude from the second group of single tax payers certain types of activities with a high risk of concealing employment relationships (in particular, services, including IT services, consulting services in the areas of accounting and auditing, marketing, engineering and law), as well as introduce increased differentiated rates for such types of activities for individual entrepreneurs of the third group.
