Rada passes at first reading bill amending Tax Code from IMF package

Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada on Thursday passed at first reading a bill amending the Tax Code regarding the minimization of the impact on administration of budget revenue (No. 4516). The bill was in the package of bills the adoption of which is required to receive a new tranche of $1.7 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A total of 234 lawmakers cast supporting votes.

Head of the parliamentary committee for tax and customs policy Nina Yuzhanina said before voting that the bill could be revised for second reading.

Presenting the bill, Deputy Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said that the paper envisages the reduction of permit procedures in operation of the State Fiscal Service and narrowing the procedure for administrative challenging of decisions made by supervision agencies.

"The bill includes narrowing of procedures for administrative challenging of pecuniary liabilities of taxpayers thanks to the introduction of a one-level system, while today the two-level system is used.

"The only agency where the decisions can be challenged will be the central office of Ukraine's State Fiscal Service," he said.

This proposal aroused the hottest discussions.

"It [challenging of the decisions] cannot be moved only to one level. It would result in collapse and the impossibility of hearing claims by the local divisions. This concerns customs issues," Yuzhanina said.

"The appealing procedure today is ineffective… We have come to the conclusion that with the one-level system for hearing claims of taxpayers the agency will have 50% of representatives of the Finance Ministry. If it is needed let's insist on independent experts, but it is impossible to change nothing," she said.