REUTERS
The Accounting Chamber makes every effort so that the state receives taxes in full.
Ukraine's national budget fell short of UAH 25 billion, or US$ 1.02 billion in excise payments in the past two years because of the shadow market of petrol and diesel fuel.
"Shadow operations account for a quarter of Ukraine's official GDP, or UAH 846 billion [US$34.4 billion]," Chairman of the Accounting Chamber Valeriy Patskan said on Facebook. "These are figures of a study conducted by the NBU [Ukraine's Central Bank] and other agencies. Moreover, a significant part of the shadow economy, UAH 702 billion [US$28.6 billion], was generated in cash. According to the results of an audit to study the effectiveness of administering state budget revenue from the sale of fuel, our auditors revealed that in the two years, the shadow petrol and diesel fuel market could reach 4.6 million tonnes, and the budget did not receive excise tax worth UAH 25 billion."
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He also said that in the wake of the audit, the Accounting Chamber provided recommendations to the Fiscal Service regarding the improvement of their work in administering that type of excise tax, which resulted in the introduction of appropriate amendments to the Tax Code.
In addition, according to Patskan, his agency last year conducted an audit to trace the collection of excise taxes on tobacco, which revealed a shortfall of the state budget in 2018 estimated at about UAH 2 billion (US$81.4 million) due to a significant share of the shadow market in the tobacco sector.
"According to our experts, the introduction of the Electronic Excise Stamp automated system for controlling the circulation of excisable goods (alcoholic beverages and tobacco products) can change the situation," he said.
The experts say that the share of the shadow economy in Germany is 14%, in France 11%, and in Switzerland 8%.
"Ukraine should reach the level of developed countries. To do this, a number of measures should be taken, in particular, to combat corruption and theft from the state budget. And the Accounting Chamber makes every effort so that state funds are not siphoned into dishonest entities' pockets, and the state receives taxes in full," he said.