In Ukraine, the issue of increasing VAT (Value Added Tax) is being discussed again. This was stated by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, Daniil Hetmantsev, in an interview with the publication "Economic Truth".
Currently, the general VAT rate in Ukraine is 20%. A reduced rate of 7% is applied to pharmaceuticals, while certain agricultural products are taxed at 14%.
"This discussion is not yet closed. I would like to quote the words of the Minister of Finance, who noted that if there is a critical increase in expenditures between the first and second readings of the state budget for 2025, we will need to revisit the issue of raising the VAT. This is within the framework of agreements with the IMF," he reported.
Hetmantsev emphasized that he supports an increase in VAT.
"It is the most effective tax. When comparing VAT revenues for the first 8 months of 2021 with those for the same period in 2024, there has been a 73% increase. This significantly exceeds inflation, and considering the economic downturn, these are absolutely normal figures," he explained.
Additionally, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee mentioned that tax efficiency in Ukraine has increased by 14.2% – a metric that calculates how much VAT is paid relative to the volume of taxable transactions.
For alcohol, tax efficiency was 5.1% in 2021, and it has now risen to 7%. In absolute terms, this translates to an additional 1.2 billion over the first 8 months of the year. Revenue from legal alcoholic beverages has grown by 28%.
Recall that the head of the financial committee of the Rada, Daniil Hetmantsev, also answered when cryptocurrency will be legalized in Ukraine and how relevant operations will be taxed.
Media outlets have published a list of professions where salaries have increased since September 2024. The highest income growth has been observed among ceramists and orthodontists.