On January 12, 2016 amendments to the procedure according to which taxpayers appeal tax assessments came into force. The amendments were approved by the Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 916 dated 21 October 2015 which was registered with the Ministry of Justice under No. 1617/28062 on 23 December 2015. The Order identifies the procedure to be followed in cases of taxpayers' appeals against tax assessment notices. According to the procedure defined, taxpayers can appeal to a higher instance tax authority within 10 calendar days following the tax assessment.

The procedure grants taxpayers the right to file appeals against tax assessments including:

  • Complaints about the decisions of state tax inspection offices, which are to be submitted to the regulatory authorities in Kyiv and regions or to inter-regional territorial agencies.
  • Complaints about the decisions of regulatory authorities of Kyiv and regions, decisions of inter-regional territorial agencies, and decisions of customs offices, which are to be submitted to the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine.

The complaint should contain details about the taxpayer as well as the name of the regulatory authority, particulars of the decision under appeal, grounds supporting the appeal, facts in the case claimed by the taxpayer as inappropriately established or as non-established by the regulatory authority, justifications for the taxpayer's disagreement with the regulatory authority's decision, claims and petitions of the complaining taxpayer, information regarding the notification of the regulatory authority, as well as information on appealing the decision of the regulatory authority to court.

According to the procedure defined, the higher instance tax authority must examine the appeal and issue a decision within 20 calendar days from the date of receipt. This period may be extended to 60 calendar days by a decision of the head (or deputy head) of the tax authority.

Taxpayers who are not satisfied with the decision of the higher instance tax authority may further appeal the decision in front of  the SFS within 10 calendar days following the date of receipt of the decision. The SFS decides on the appeal within 20 calendar days from the date of receipt of the appeal (extension up to 60 calendar days is also possible).  

It is believed that the above amendments will result in a decrease of illegal manipulations and non-existent tax violations.

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