The Southern Mining and Processing Plant (PivDGZK) was in the center of a high-profile financial scandal. The Supreme Court of Ukraine obliged the enterprise to pay taxes to the state budget, the evasion of which was made possible by the scheme of withdrawal of dividends abroad. It is an amount exceeding UAH 29.8 billion.
For three years, PivZK paid dividends in favor of 12 Cyprus companies, while using a preferential tax rate. However, the court found that the real beneficiaries were structures in the Netherlands. This scheme has deprived the enterprise the right to benefits provided for in the Convention on the avoidance of double taxation.
The Supreme Court put a point in the case, obliging the plant to pay tax liabilities. However, the debt was not repaid within the 10 days given to the law. From the beginning of May, he officially went into the category of tax, and the State Tax Service has launched the procedure for penalties.
The STS has already sent a letter to the enterprise with a request for voluntary payment, a tax request and made a decision on the description of property. According to the act signed by both parties, this property is registered with a tax pledge. In case of non -payment of debt, assets will be forcibly implemented for its repayment.
The amount of debt is increasing - according to the current legislation, it is charged a penalty of 120% of the annual NBU discount rate. Today it is about 1.4-1.5% monthly.
Formally, the company transferred funds to Cyprus firms using an agreement between Ukraine and Cyprus. However, the beneficiaries, as established by the court, were structures in the Netherlands, which allows to qualify transactions as tax optimization, and in fact - tax evasion.
This case is a landmark for the fiscal system of Ukraine. He demonstrates that even large industrial giants will not avoid responsibility for tax manipulations. If the PivZK does not pay the debt in the near future, its assets will leave the hammer.
