On May 22, 2017, the seminar for the administrative court judges on the features of application of the Tax Code of Ukraine was held in Kyiv. Lawyers and judges paid attention to some perplexing matters of the Tax Code application: from disputes related to the functioning of electronic VAT administration to the simplified tax system and transport tax.
Almost all participants noted that the significant hope of resolving a number of challenges was given to the Draft Code of Administrative Procedure pending in the Verkhovna Rada and to the new composition of the Supreme Court.
One of the first challenges concerned the proving. Oleksandr Markov, senior lawyer of Sayenko Kharenko law firm, noted that the Draft Code of Administrative Procedure responded to some issues of proving, but did not cover all of them. The lawyer drew attention to the lack of a unified approach to prejudicialness, "presumption of inaccuracy" of primary documents, admissibility of pre-trial investigation information etc. Nina Kucheruk, Head of Litigation and Arbitration Practice of Jurimex, reminded the judges about the new tools provided by the Draft Law. They included the mechanism of responsibility for the abuse of procedural rights, for which the persons would be punished both by imposing fines and court expenses regardless of the win in a dispute.
The lawyers outlined the challenges of collection of transport tax and regulation of the simplified tax system. Vita Forsiuk, CEO of TaxLink, and Kostiantyn Chartoryiskyi, expert of TaxLink, analyzed these matters. Vita Forsiuk noted that judges should decide the following questions concerning the transport tax: whether such a tax could be collected in the absence of a decision of local authorities, or in the case of adoption of the corresponding decision with a violation of the principle of stability. Chartoryiskyi also highlighted some controversial aspects related to the single tax payers. In particular, he mentioned the judicial practice concerning the opportunities to use a simplified system by a lawyer and the cancellation of registration of a single tax payer.
In turn, after studying problematic issues of the court practice related to the functioning of an electronic system of VAT administration, Danylo Getmantsev advised the judges to get ready for the emergence of a new category of disputes. It was about the disputes related to the cancellation of registration of tax invoices/ adjustment calculations of in the Unified Register of Tax Invoices. Getmantsev states that this court practice could become as painful as the practice that had been developed due to the start of the functioning of an electronic system of VAT administration.
Finally, the judges has an opportunity to hear about international trends in transfer pricing: Yevhen Sokur, expert of TaxLink, provided details on the landmark decisions on transfer pricing in a number of countries: from Australia to Argentina and France. Yuriy Krainiak, expert of TaxLink, focused on the features of the tax qualification of the use of intellectual property objects. The lawyer provided detailed information about peculiarities of the specification of such payments as royalty, and dispelled certain misconceptions about restrictions on the use of 1C Program.
The seminar was organized by the National School of Judges of Ukraine together with TaxLink, the High Administrative Court of Ukraine and the Association of Tax Advisers.
