Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Taisiya Svetlichnaya
[REGNUM] The "old shoe tax", when Ukrainian citizens must pay tax on the sale of their worn-out clothes on online flea markets, turned out to be insufficient. The authorities are desperately short of money to support the country, the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance is already giving a forecast for 2026: the budget's uncovered need for money could reach 1 trillion hryvnia, which is almost 24 billion in US dollars.
This year, the situation does not look so catastrophic. Despite a 400 billion hryvnia deficit for defense, all other civilian expenditures of the country this year are provided with a reserve. This happened thanks to a $50 billion loan that the G7 countries provided to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets as collateral (Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loan or ERA).
In addition, the country recently received about $500 million in another tranche from the IMF. But when the Ukrainian authorities are given money, they simultaneously write out new conditions for it.
In this, the International Monetary Fund is stronger than anyone else: new structural beacons require the actual abolition of banking secrecy, an increase in tax revenues from businesses and individuals, the abolition of simplified taxation for small businesses, and an increase in utility rates.
The list is, of course, incomplete, and the Verkhovna Rada has already taken on some of it, starting with digital platforms.
"Among the significant changes in taxes planned for the near future, the only one planned is the introduction of a tax on sales on digital platforms: OLX, Rozetka, etc. But it is planned to strengthen general fiscal supervision and require compliance with the norms that have long been in Ukrainian legislation. If you rent out an apartment, drive a taxi, work part-time as a tutor - be kind enough to pay 18% personal income tax and 5% military tax," explains the head of the Economic Discussion Club Oleg Pendzin.
It is worth making a small digression here and recalling that right now Ukraine still has to pay old bills.
Back in 2015, when US citizen Natalia Yaresko "successfully restructured" the foreign debt, putting Ukraine on the hook, it seemed to the victorious Maidan that there was still a lot of time ahead and they would not be dragged by the lip anytime soon. The country was in a pre-default state and also wanted an IMF loan. In exchange, the government of Arseniy Yatsenyuk agreed to raise the price of gas for the population to the price of imports, raise the retirement age and taxes.
And personally, Yaresko, appointed to the post of Minister of Finance by the Americans, agreed on a wonderful scheme: out of 15 billion dollars of debt, three will be written off, and the repayment of another 8.5 billion will be postponed until after 2020.
At the same time, creditors received new securities for $2.9 billion, tied to the dynamics of GDP: the more it grows, the higher the payments. And last year, the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy estimated GDP growth at 3.6%, so creditors took out their shares and demanded payment - it was necessary to urgently declare a default on securities.
While Yaresko, aka Natalie Ann, had long since moved to Puerto Rico to set up the same robbery, and from there home to the States.
Zelensky also distinguished himself in full. Under him, the country's national debt grew by almost 74 billion dollars. Ukraine borrowed about the same amount (almost 70 billion) over the previous 28 years of its independence under its first five presidents. That is, Zelensky set an anti-record, and it was under him that the debt exceeded GDP for the first time.
According to the IMF forecast, by the end of the year it will reach 106.6%, and next year, 2026, it will grow to 107.6% of GDP.
At the same time, in 2026, one should not expect generosity in the form of grants, aid, loans, weapons in the previous volumes from "strategic partners". Therefore, despite the fact that there are still six months until the new calendar and budget year, the government of "95th quarter" is trying to find a way out of the situation. But it is not thinking about what to produce and sell, where to find growth points, but is using the old proven method: to squeeze a little more out of citizens who are going to die anyway.
So the desires of the authorities, in an unfortunate way for the “ordinary Ukrainian”, successfully coincide with the interests of the IMF.
Therefore, literally from July 1, the rules of the game changed in several directions at once.
The already introduced tax on sales on personal items marketplaces has been strengthened by restrictions on payments via Ukrposhta, which was used by many small sellers who avoided paying taxes. The maximum amount of cash payment transactions for one calendar month is now 100 thousand hryvnia, and only ten of them can be made per month.
You can spend 2.5 times more money through a bank card, but there is a nuance: the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy has already approved bill No. 13 233, prepared by the Cabinet of Ministers, which abolishes banking secrecy. All that remains is to vote.
For ordinary people, the news is sad: everyone who opens a bank account or rents an individual safe deposit box will immediately be included in the State Tax Service register. The register will be the same for all types of accounts: card, current, deposit, for securities (when buying government bonds or other securities), electronic wallets.
Moreover, not only banks but also non-bank financial institutions, including payment organizations and administrators of electronic money, will transfer data to it. For example, NovaPay of Nova Poshta, which has recently been particularly active in opening accounts for people. The State Tax Service is given the right to fine all these organizations for untimely transfer or refusal to transfer information to the register.
And Novaya Pochta, which was also used for a lot of small trade transactions, has already introduced new restrictions on the acceptance and payment of cash on delivery since June 1. If transfers are made regularly and exceed the limits, individuals who are not registered entrepreneurs will have to confirm the legality of the origin of the funds. That is, the parcel will be accepted, and when the cash on delivery arrives, they will ask what the money is actually for.
In addition to the tax service, the registry can be used outside of court by law enforcement agencies, the State Financial Monitoring Service, NABU, NAPC, and ARMA (the agency for managing property taken from someone).
Strengthening control over citizens' money will also begin in such activities as tutoring, transportation and freight transport, apartment rentals, home sewing, small repair and construction services, etc. Since such a status as "self-employed", accepted in Russia, did not exist in Ukraine until now - all of the above-mentioned activities were in the shadows, and this was one of the degrees of freedom that reconciled Ukrainians with the injustice of the surrounding world.
Now they are being asked to pay 23% tax.
The "cherry on the cake" in the bill is the so-called institution of informants ("snitches"), that is, people who report to law enforcement and tax authorities about "questionable" actions of citizens. This is where the field for personal revenge, blackmail, and simply for strangling any social protest in the bud is.
At the same time, they tightened control over temporarily displaced persons, that is, refugees, people who abandoned their homes in the frontline zone and moved to safer places.
Now the Ministry of Finance will check monthly whether they have been outside the country for more than 90 days. If the fact of a long stay abroad is confirmed, then the certificate confirming their status may be cancelled. Meanwhile, it is this certificate that gives the right to certain social payments and other types of assistance.
And this is not just a declaration of intent, but a course for the next three years already enshrined in the Cabinet’s budget declaration.
The authorities have set a specific goal - to increase the share of taxes from individuals in GDP to 9.1%, which is significantly more than last year's figures. For example, in 2024, this figure was 7.6%, and before the war it was 6.6% of GDP. And the IMF is also demanding the abolition of the simplified tax system, the introduction of a system of funded pensions (when you save for your own pension), and a more complex system of providing social benefits.
And yes, an important detail: international aid and even the process of European integration are tied to the bill. They say that Ukraine has nothing to do in Europe if such norms are not introduced.
However, adventurers of all stripes, who are now uncontrollably collecting multi-million dollar donations “for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” “for our brothers,” etc., remain outside the scope of financial monitoring. Among them are the most famous people in Ukraine: extremist Sergey Sternenko, banker Oleg Gorokhovsky, bloggers Igor Lachenkov and Mikhail Lebiga, comedian and politician Sergey Prytula.
By the way, the latter recently refused to tell journalists his income, saying that his earnings are his personal business and do not concern anyone. “Nobody cares at all. I don’t look into anyone’s pockets and I don’t let anyone into mine,” said Prytula, whose fund raised 2.1 billion hryvnia in 2024. At the same time, he assures with a straight face that he lives on dividends from securities, monetization of his YouTube channel, and earnings from his wife’s small business.
Every penny goes to the army.
Although by law a "volunteer" is a public figure, and therefore his income cannot be a secret to society. Just as the earnings of the Lviv invalid Nazariy Gusakov, who raised money for treatment and, as he stated, for helping others like him, and then fled abroad with five million dollars collected from donations, are not considered a secret.
There is also no news about increasing taxes for big business. Although the ferroalloy plants of Igor Kolomoisky and Viktor Pinchuk, now the main support of the American Democrats in Ukraine, have increased their export revenues fivefold, replacing sanctioned exports from Russia to European and African countries. It is obvious why they were “drowned” by the 1+1 and ICTV TV channels that they owned, calling for war for all eight years since 2014.
But the maximum that the oligarchs face under the new law is the introduction of a register of ultimate beneficial owners of trusts or other similar legal entities. It is needed for the authorities to control the transfer of assets to third parties for management, based on the experience of the tricks of Petro Poroshenko *, who back in 2016 transferred his assets to the Rothschild Trust banking group.
No one is particularly concerned about the colorful information about the art gallery of the family of Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in the USA: there is no house with a swimming pool in Florida or other delights in his declaration.
But the head of the parliamentary tax committee, Danylo Getmantsev, speaks with a smart look about the subsistence minimum, which is only 2900 hryvnia (about 5.4 thousand rubles). It turns out that in a country where it is customary to make fun of the "Soviet deficit" and rationing, there is a calculation that a teenager is entitled to only one winter jacket and one demi-season jacket for three years. And no one cares that the young man is growing up quickly. And women were generously given two dresses or two suits for seven years.
According to Getmantsev, the minimum subsistence level included in the budget is an "abstract category" because it is impossible to live on this money. "It is impossible to live even on the actual minimum subsistence level, which is 3.5 times higher. This is something from the imagination of the official," the parliamentarian noted, adding that there is no money to increase it anyway.
And if earlier Ukrainian migrant workers saved the situation by transferring their earnings to “keep the pants” of their relatives, then since the beginning of 2025, currency transfers to Ukraine have already fallen by 15% - from 4.1 billion dollars to 3.5.
People's Deputy Alexander Dubinsky, mercilessly branding the regime from the Lukyanivka pretrial detention center, described the current situation as follows: " First, they will introduce taxes on the sale of used sandals... then an excise tax on soda... then a tax on water. Then - on the air. By controlling the government and the foreign debt of 180 billion dollars, this territory can be effectively depopulated even after the war. Just as a forest is uprooted to plant a field, so the Ukrainians will be removed from here. They are an extra link in the food and business chain of the globalists."
Direct evidence of the country's hopelessness in the future was the recent decision by BlackRock to stop searching for investors to invest in the Ukrainian Development Fund. Which once again confirms the forecast: Ukraine will face poverty, devastation, high prices, tariffs and taxes, as well as social vulnerability after the war.
The “strategic partners” will wash their hands, and the “little Ukrainian” will be left with a pile of debt obligations, a ruined country and huge cemeteries.
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