REUTERS
Criminal liability for tax evasion is being humanized.
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has passed a bill to amend the Criminal and Criminal Procedural Codes of Ukraine to reduce government pressure on businesses.
A total of 347 lawmakers backed the draft law, an UNIAN correspondent reported on September 18.
The bill decriminalizes liability for fictitious entrepreneurship. That is, Article 205 is being removed from the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which stipulated punishment for the creation or acquisition of business entities (legal entities) with the aim of carrying out or covering up illegal activities.
The explanatory note to the bill says there is a widespread practice of using materials from pre-trial investigations and court sentences in criminal proceedings under Article 205 of the Criminal Code by the regulatory authorities to justify additional charges on taxpayers. At the same time, the negative trends in resolving tax disputes were provoked by the widespread erroneous approach of the courts to the assessment of evidence provided by regulatory authorities.
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In addition, the document rises the amount of actual non-receipt of taxes, fees, and other obligatory payments to the budget, when establishing the signs of criminal offenses under Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (evasion of taxes, fees (mandatory payments)).
Today, there is a practice of exploiting criminal proceedings in Ukraine as a means of pressure on businesses, in particular in the context of conducting tax audits, the explanatory note said. This trend distorts the essence and purpose of criminal liability. Humanization of criminal liability for the evasion of taxes, fees, and other obligatory payments, abandoning the punitive nature of tax evasion control will create an enabling environment for doing business in Ukraine.