Managing Partner of Lavrynovych & Partners Law Firm Maksym Lavrynovych delivered a speech entitled “VAT Refund under the New Tax Code: a New Conundrum” at Forbes’ first conference in Ukraine “International Trade: Export Opportunities” held on December 4 in Kyiv.
In his speech Maksym Lavrynovych told about the new procedure for refunding VAT from the budget, as well as cases of VAT refund denial. He concluded that almost no one has received automatic VAT refund.
“Automatic VAT refund can only be received by reaching a compromise with the tax authorities. It is impossible to make the tax service refund VAT automatically. As VAT in Ukraine is perceived as a fiscal tax for some reason, the tax authorities and judicial system use every possibility to delay refunding VAT. In my opinion, one of the reasons for that is very few go to court to recover late payment interest, while the new Tax Code provides that in the event of a delay in VAT refund, a late payment interest of 120% of the discount rate established by the National Bank of Ukraine will be recovered from the state.”
When answering the questions of the conference participants, Maksym Lavrynovych highlighted that one can wait for years for court decisions regarding confirmed VAT refund to be executed, because they are executed by the State Treasury Service in the order in which they are received. He believes, however, that businesses should “discipline” the activity of government agencies and assert violation of their rights in court seeking VAT refund, even if it will be in the form of offset.
Forbes Ukraine is a leading monthly business publication. It is a part of UMH group, a rapidly growing Eastern-European multimedia group with a portfolio of over 50 brands. In Ukraine, the company holds leading positions on the Internet, radio and press markets, and is among the top 10 publishing market players.