BDO in Ukraine: your partner in exploring grant support and tax implications for business development

22/ 03/ 2024

Grant assistance for companies is a great opportunity to get additional funding for business development. It seems to be rather simple: find a grant, fill out an application, receive funds and develop a business, but even so, there are still some peculiarities. Lets try to figure out what obstacles are to be overcome in order to receive the desired financial backing for business development. Search for grant announcements. To begin with, we suggest focusing on the search for grant announcements. A grant is a type of financial support aimed at project implementation, education, business development, etc., and does not require a refund. Grant assistance is provided by both state institutions and private and international donor organizations. To date, there is no unified platform for publishing grant announcements. It is up to an organization which platform to use for publishing information about the grant. The state institutions and lots of Ukrainian specialized platforms alike publish grant announcements on their own resources. Constant monitoring of such resources enables receiving relevant information in a timely manner. All grant announcements are aimed at achieving a specific goal, such as: support of certain categories of the population (veterans and their families, students, PhD students, youth, representatives of creative professions, etc.) sectoral (a support of processing industry enterprises, energy companies, projects aimed at countering disinformation, cybersecurity, etc.) increasing the export potential of companies, development of Ukrainian startups, promotion of projects, etc. While reviewing grant announcements, particular attention should be paid to whether the purpose of this grant competition is in line with a project. We offer several free platforms where you can consider grant programs for your business: Competitions | Public Space (prostir.ua) diia.gov.ua/marketplace/finansuvanna EU4Business in Ukraine GURT Resource Center (gurt.org.ua) eTendering - Search for call for tenders (europa.eu) Catalog of opportunities | House of Europe Active programs | Eastern Europe Foundation (eef.org.ua) Most grant announcements are subject to a deadline that can range from a week to several months. However, even then everything should not be left until the last day. Recently, more and more often, the organizers hold online conferences, where they discuss in detail conditions of participation and answer questions of potential participants. Such introductory sessions are a good opportunity for entrepreneurs to analyze controversial issues that arise while getting familiar with the documentation and to find out whether their project meets the purpose of the competition. Submission of grant applications. Once the final decision on participation in the grant competition is made, potential participants have to start forming the necessary package of documents and/or fill out the questionnaires of the grantors. The submitted project is expected to emphasize its advantages and potential. Information should be concise, contain no additional insights into the general scope of project implementation. Participants of the competition need to do as much as possible without the donor’s help, demonstrating both the seriousness of their idea and the fact that they considered all the details. This needs market research: Thinking through the stages of project implementation. Indicating an expected result of each stage. Showing that the project is finalized and ready to be financed. Presentation of information in a structured manner, with all the details, usually receives positive feedback from the organizers. When compiling the financial part of the documentation, it is necessary to act transparently, according to the instructions of the grantors. Grant announcements often include information about the costs which can be covered by a grant funding. It is necessary to consider this when compiling the financial part. Before applying, you must register on the platform determined by the organizer of the competition and fill in all the necessary fields. It is advised against leaving it for the last day, because there might be some technical failures related to heavy traffic on the platform. Of course, submitting a grant application requires certain knowledge and experience. Some organizations hire specialists, some cooperate with the companies specializing in supporting participants of grant programs. These different ways are aimed at achieving the same goal — to obtain grant assistance. Taxation of grant aid. Article 14.1.277-1 of the Tax Code of Ukraine defines the concept of a budget grant: an amount of money given to the taxpayer under a deed of gift and other similar deeds providing for no compensation for or return of such an amount or an amount of money granted without the execution of such deed, in the manner established by law. The list of budget grantors is determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, currently it contains only two organizations — the Ukrainian Cultural Fund and the Entrepreneurship Development Fund. Article 170.7-1 of the Tax Code of Ukraine defines that income from other sources and operations other than sales, including income in the form of grants received by a taxpayer, as well as value of goods, works, services provided to the taxpayer are free of charge during the reporting period. Amounts received from other grants (that is, which do not meet the above definition of a budget grant) are taxable under general conditions. To summarize, grant competitions are an opportunity for business development and improvement. For the most part, such funds are provided on a free and non-refundable basis. We advise you not to miss the opportunities and to participate in all the relevant business competitions. It is very important not to be disappointed when the grant funding is denied. It is better to consider this as an opportunity to finalize the project and submit it anew. Most organizations provide feedback, so seize this opportunity. If you are interested in participating in grant competitions and need assistance, please contact us for a detailed consultation. The material was prepared at the request of Liga:Zakon.

Grant assistance for companies is a great opportunity to get additional funding for business development.

It seems to be rather simple: find a grant, fill out an application, receive funds and develop a business, but even so, there are still some peculiarities. Let’s try to figure out what obstacles are to be overcome in order to receive the desired financial backing for business development.

Search for grant announcements

To begin with, we suggest focusing on the search for grant announcements.

A grant is a type of financial support aimed at project implementation, education, business development, etc., and does not require a refund. Grant assistance is provided by both state institutions and private and international donor organizations. To date, there is no unified platform for publishing grant announcements. It is up to an organization which platform to use for publishing information about the grant. The state institutions and lots of Ukrainian specialized platforms alike publish grant announcements on their own resources. Constant monitoring of such resources enables receiving relevant information in a timely manner.

All grant announcements are aimed at achieving a specific goal, such as:

support of certain categories of the population (veterans and their families, students, PhD students, youth, representatives of creative professions, etc.)
sectoral (a support of processing industry enterprises, energy companies, projects aimed at countering disinformation, cybersecurity, etc.)
increasing the export potential of companies, development of Ukrainian startups, promotion of projects, etc.

While reviewing grant announcements, particular attention should be paid to whether the purpose of this grant competition is in line with a project.

We offer several free platforms where you can consider grant programs for your business:

Most grant announcements are subject to a deadline that can range from a week to several months. However, even then everything should not be left until the last day. Recently, more and more often, the organizers hold online conferences, where they discuss in detail conditions of participation and answer questions of potential participants. Such introductory sessions are a good opportunity for entrepreneurs to analyze controversial issues that arise while getting familiar with the documentation and to find out whether their project meets the purpose of the competition.

Submission of grant applications

Once the final decision on participation in the grant competition is made, potential participants have to start forming the necessary package of documents and/or fill out the questionnaires of the grantors. The submitted project is expected to emphasize its advantages and potential. Information should be concise, contain no additional insights into the general scope of project implementation. Participants of the competition need to do as much as possible without the donor’s help, demonstrating both the seriousness of their idea and the fact that they considered all the details.

This needs market research:

Thinking through the stages of project implementation.
Indicating an expected result of each stage.
Showing that the project is finalized and ready to be financed. Presentation of information in a structured manner, with all the details, usually receives positive feedback from the organizers.

When compiling the financial part of the documentation, it is necessary to act transparently, according to the instructions of the grantors. Grant announcements often include information about the costs which can be covered by a grant funding. It is necessary to consider this when compiling the financial part.

Before applying, you must register on the platform determined by the organizer of the competition and fill in all the necessary fields. It is advised against leaving it for the last day, because there might be some technical failures related to heavy traffic on the platform.

Of course, submitting a grant application requires certain knowledge and experience. Some organizations hire specialists, some cooperate with the companies specializing in supporting participants of grant programs. These different ways are aimed at achieving the same goal — to obtain grant assistance.

Taxation of grant aid

Article 14.1.277-1 of the Tax Code of Ukraine defines the concept of a budget grant: an amount of money given to the taxpayer under a deed of gift and other similar deeds providing for no compensation for or return of such an amount or an amount of money granted without the execution of such deed, in the manner established by law. The list of budget grantors is determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, currently it contains only two organizations — the Ukrainian Cultural Fund and the Entrepreneurship Development Fund.

Article 170.7-1 of the Tax Code of Ukraine defines that income from other sources and operations other than sales, including income in the form of grants received by a taxpayer, as well as value of goods, works, services provided to the taxpayer are free of charge during the reporting period.

Amounts received from other grants (that is, which do not meet the above definition of a budget grant) are taxable under general conditions.

To summarize, grant competitions are an opportunity for business development and improvement. For the most part, such funds are provided on a free and non-refundable basis.

We advise you not to miss the opportunities and to participate in all the relevant business competitions. It is very important not to be disappointed when the grant funding is denied. It is better to consider this as an opportunity to finalize the project and submit it anew. Most organizations provide feedback, so seize this opportunity.

If you are interested in participating in grant competitions and need assistance, please contact us for a detailed consultation.

The material was prepared at the request of Liga:Zakon.