A two-hour meeting was held between representatives of the Council of Entrepreneurs and representatives of the authorities, including the Office of the President, the government and the Verkhovna Rada, during which proposals for raising taxes were discussed. However, the meeting ended without concrete decisions.
Business representatives focused most of the meeting on proposals for alternative ways to replenish the budget. Two people who attended the meeting said the discussion was more about alternative sources of revenue than tax changes.
Among the proposals made by the members of the Council of Entrepreneurs were the following measures to detinize the economy:
- struggle with salaries in "envelopes";
- opposition to tax optimization schemes due to the creation of a large number of FOPs;
- conducting an audit of businesses that pay taxes below the industry average, with the aim of encouraging them to pay a higher amount;
- measures to detinize customs and combat smuggling.
According to one of the participants who attended the meeting, the businessmen did not provide specific calculations on how the proposed measures could affect the budget.
The possibility of canceling the "Ukrainian cashback" program, which could cost the budget from 1 to 3 billion hryvnias this year, depending on the implementation model, was also discussed.
Civil servants agreed with the need for detinization, but noted that the process would not produce quick results, while funding for the army was needed now.
Although tax increases seem inevitable, questions about specific measures remain open, and discussions will continue at the level of specialized committees. One of the possible alternatives to the military levy is considering an increase in VAT, but the final decisions have not yet been made.
