Poroshenko speaks of tax amnesty

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has called on experts to discuss the possibility and feasibility of introducing a zero declaration of assets in Ukraine.

"I propose that we once again get back to discussing the so-called "zero declaration"... It is necessary that we give every Ukrainian the opportunity to pay taxes in line with the law, bring money into Ukraine, and invest in the Ukrainian economy. I would not like to file it now, but I propose joint work in order to protect first and foremost the medium and small business," the president said at a Monday meeting with the Ukrainian businesses in Kyiv.

The President also proposed to discuss a plan for the implementation of principles to counteract Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).

Read alsoUkraine to keep forex sales requirements at 50% for now: central bank deputy"If you have money, declare it, pay taxes, and be a free man. If one of the experts opposes the idea, we need to immediately hold discussions on both 'zero declarations' and the BEPS," Poroshenko said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, according to the NBU, the adoption of amendments to the tax legislation on combating BEPS and on the international exchange of tax information is impossible without an amnesty of capital, or the so-called "zero declaration".

Ukraine joined the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in Europe (OECD) plan to combat tax evasion in 2017, pledging to implement the minimum standard of the plan.

On January 24, 2018, Ukraine failed to sign in Paris a multilateral convention on the implementation of measures to prevent tax evasion, the MLI (Multilateral Instrument), which, according to the Ministry of Finance, threatens to disrupt the implementation of the OECD plan and may lead to Ukraine being included in the EU's offshore list.

Read alsoPoroshenko says tax on withdrawn assets to be effective "vaccine" against corruptionBy June 30, 2018, Ukraine must independently assess the state of compliance with the minimum standard of the BEPS action plan, and by the end of the year – meet the minimum standard.

Zero declarations involve a tax lift on declared property or reduced tax rates, while declarants shall not be held accountable for the assets declared.