By KYIV. Dec 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Members of the European Business Association (EBA) slightly worsened their assessment of the tax regime in Ukraine in wartime – to 2.97 points out of 5 possible compared to 3.01 points in 2021, according to the results of the new wave of the Tax Index survey.
According to them, the factor of tax administration and preparation of tax reporting received the lowest rating among the components of the index – 2.74 points out of 5 possible: 41% of respondents assess this procedure as satisfactory, 39% consider it burdensome, including 8% – very burdensome, and only 20% consider it easy.
"More respondents complain about the amount of time they spend on preparing tax returns and paying taxes," the report says.
According to the results of the survey, the quality of tax legislation received a slightly higher overall score than last year – 2.86 points. Among the respondents, 40% assess the quality of tax legislation as satisfactory, 26% as positive. However, the number of dissatisfied respondents slightly increased – from 30% to 34%.
The assessment of the quality of tax services improved slightly – from 2.93 to 3.04 points. In general, the ratio of respondents with a positive and negative perception of the quality of service by the tax authorities remained almost unchanged: positive – 35%, satisfactory – 39%, unsatisfactory – 26%.
The EBA noted that, according to the reviews of 43% of respondents, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, it was easy for them to contact the tax office. At the same time, 18% reported difficulties in communication, and 40% rated it as satisfactory.
The factor for assessing fiscal pressure is in the neutral plane – 3.24 points: respondents reported a certain increase in fiscal pressure compared to last year. Among its manifestations, business identified unreasonable interpretations of tax legislation by regulatory authorities, unreasonable information requests and blocking of tax invoices.
According to the association, 49% consider changes in tax regulation to be untimely, insufficient and ineffective, 33% consider the response to wartime challenges satisfactory, 18% consider them timely, complete and effective.
According to the results of the survey, in order to facilitate the work of companies, business recommended that the tax office clarify the rules that explicitly exempt from fines for violations committed during martial law, simplify the registration of tax invoices, minimize the number of requests and inspections, reduce restrictions on the use of their own foreign currency and simplify the rules of border crossings for employees.
The survey has been conducted since 2011. Some 111 specialists in the field of taxes and finances of the EBA member companies took part in its current stage. The survey was conducted from November 17 to December 23.
