Ukrainian taxpayers can now file their tax returns by e-mail, avoiding the unpleasant business of standing in long lines and meeting face-to-face with intimidating inspectors.
meeting face‑to‑face with intimidating inspectors.
State Tax Administration spokesman Vitaly Lukyanenko says the electronic filing system was launched in early March, and will mainly be used by corporate taxpayers. Many companies have to submit declarations once a month, while individual taxpayers must file annually.
Lukyanenko said electronic filing would ease the process for taxpayers and improve the efficiency of the nation’s tax inspectors, who he said screen millions of tax documents submitted by hundreds of thousands of legal entities every year.
“The automated system will cut time and office expenses for taxpayers and inspectors alike,” said Lukyanenko. “Taxpayers will not have to leave their offices to file, and will also save office expenses by using less paper.”
The basic software needed to electronically file returns is free, but frequent changes in Ukrainian tax law will compel taxpayers to pay Hr 1,000 per year for updates to the program.
Until now, taxpayers had little choice but to file traditional paper declarations and submit them in person to tax officials. It’s a more bureaucratic procedure, which involves traveling to the tax office and waiting in line. Last year, a pilot project in Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk allowed taxpayers to file their returns on computer disks.
According to Lukyanenko, while individuals tend to pay their taxes in cash, many corporate taxpayers use wire transfers. The addition of electronic filing would further reduce their visits to STA offices, he said.
Tax authorities also say e‑mail filing could help reduce corruption.
“The risk of bribes and other forms of corruption between taxpayers and inspectors will be reduced, because the two parties will not see one another in person,” said Lukyanenko.
“It is more difficult to pay bribes using a computer‑based system, because all the information is stored in a database and can be traced,” he added. “By comparison, the traditional method of filing tax declarations in person leaves more room for the inspector and taxpayer to just walk into a side room and agree to have the inspector overlook violations in exchange for a bribe.”
Volodymyr Didenko, a senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, praised the electronic filing system.
“It’s great, and it’s a standard method of filing in any civilized country,” he said. “Instead of going to their office and standing in line, you can do it with a few mouse clicks.”
But he’s less optimistic about the procedure’s potential to winnow corruption from the tax system. Didenko believes that taxpayers who see the need to pay bribes will continue to find ways to pay them.
