Business community of Odesa discussed key tax challenges with Head of the State Tax Service 

11/ 03/ 2025

On March 7, 2025, a meeting took place in Odesa between business representatives and the Head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, Ruslan Kravchenko. Entrepreneurs had the opportunity to receive direct answers to urgent tax administration issues and discuss specific solutions to improve the business environment.  Key Topics of the Meeting:  🔹 Blocking of Tax Invoices: The business community emphasized the need to refine risk criteria and avoid unjustified blockages. Ruslan Kravchenko reported that the State Tax Service is working on improving the monitoring system, and the percentage of blocked invoices has decreased to 0.44%.  🔹 Execution of Court Rulings: Participants pointed out instances where court rulings in favor of businesses were not properly executed. The Head of the State Tax Service stressed that the service is focused on improving the efficiency of this process and adhering to the principle of strict enforcement of court decisions. He also noted that the Tax Service plans to implement a mechanism to execute such rulings within five working days.  🔹 Electronic Audits and Digitalization: The introduction of electronic audits is a key step in the digitalization of the tax system. The EBA regularly discusses issues related to e-audits with the Tax Service to ensure their effective implementation. At the same time, businesses face challenges in submitting documents in the SAF-T format, as files can be difficult to process and verify. On a central level, the imposition of fines during the clarification period has been temporarily suspended. It is crucial that all tax authorities adhere to unified standards to avoid creating unequal conditions for businesses in different regions.  🔹 Disruptions in Tax Server Operations: Companies are facing difficulties in submitting reports due to power outages, air raids, and limited server operating hours. Businesses propose implementing a mechanism to inform about periods when servers are down and not imposing fines on companies that submitted reports on time but were not processed by the Tax Service due to technical issues.  🔹 Update on the Risk Assessment Criteria Monitoring System: The State Tax Service also clarified the criteria for classifying taxpayers as high-risk. The risk code directory, which is used by commissions when reviewing taxpayer compliance with established risk criteria, has been updated.  🔹 VAT Administration and Refunds: Businesses raised concerns about unjustified refusals to refund VAT and delays from previous years. However, since the beginning of this year, positive dynamics have been observed. For two consecutive months, the budget revenue plan has been exceeded, and stable VAT refunds have been ensured. In January-February, 28.7 billion UAH was refunded.  The meeting was actively attended by member companies of the South Ukrainian Office of the European Business Association. The head of the office, Kateryna Morozova, emphasized that businesses need a predictable tax policy and effective dialogue with the state. She stressed the importance of not only resolving issues manually but also developing systemic mechanisms to prevent their occurrence through close interaction with entrepreneurs.  Ruslan Kravchenko stated that the State Tax Service is open to collaboration, ready to improve tax procedures, and take into account business suggestions. The Tax Service is committed to further developing a constructive dialogue and forming transparent and clear rules of operation.  The meeting was an important step in building effective cooperation between businesses and tax authorities. As a result, the parties agreed to continue joint work on addressing systemic problems and simplifying tax procedures, which will contribute to the development of entrepreneurship in Ukraine. 

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Key Topics of the Meeting: 

🔹 Blocking of Tax Invoices: The business community emphasized the need to refine risk criteria and avoid unjustified blockages. Ruslan Kravchenko reported that the State Tax Service is working on improving the monitoring system, and the percentage of blocked invoices has decreased to 0.44%. 

🔹 Execution of Court Rulings: Participants pointed out instances where court rulings in favor of businesses were not properly executed. The Head of the State Tax Service stressed that the service is focused on improving the efficiency of this process and adhering to the principle of strict enforcement of court decisions. He also noted that the Tax Service plans to implement a mechanism to execute such rulings within five working days. 

🔹 Electronic Audits and Digitalization: The introduction of electronic audits is a key step in the digitalization of the tax system. The EBA regularly discusses issues related to e-audits with the Tax Service to ensure their effective implementation. At the same time, businesses face challenges in submitting documents in the SAF-T format, as files can be difficult to process and verify. On a central level, the imposition of fines during the clarification period has been temporarily suspended. It is crucial that all tax authorities adhere to unified standards to avoid creating unequal conditions for businesses in different regions. 

🔹 Disruptions in Tax Server Operations: Companies are facing difficulties in submitting reports due to power outages, air raids, and limited server operating hours. Businesses propose implementing a mechanism to inform about periods when servers are down and not imposing fines on companies that submitted reports on time but were not processed by the Tax Service due to technical issues. 

🔹 Update on the Risk Assessment Criteria Monitoring System: The State Tax Service also clarified the criteria for classifying taxpayers as high-risk. The risk code directory, which is used by commissions when reviewing taxpayer compliance with established risk criteria, has been updated. 

🔹 VAT Administration and Refunds: Businesses raised concerns about unjustified refusals to refund VAT and delays from previous years. However, since the beginning of this year, positive dynamics have been observed. For two consecutive months, the budget revenue plan has been exceeded, and stable VAT refunds have been ensured. In January-February, 28.7 billion UAH was refunded. 

The meeting was actively attended by member companies of the South Ukrainian Office of the European Business Association. The head of the office, Kateryna Morozova, emphasized that businesses need a predictable tax policy and effective dialogue with the state. She stressed the importance of not only resolving issues manually but also developing systemic mechanisms to prevent their occurrence through close interaction with entrepreneurs. 

Ruslan Kravchenko stated that the State Tax Service is open to collaboration, ready to improve tax procedures, and take into account business suggestions. The Tax Service is committed to further developing a constructive dialogue and forming transparent and clear rules of operation. 

The meeting was an important step in building effective cooperation between businesses and tax authorities. As a result, the parties agreed to continue joint work on addressing systemic problems and simplifying tax procedures, which will contribute to the development of entrepreneurship in Ukraine. 