Draft law on tax increase does not meet the requirements of the Constitution: Legal Department of the Verkhovna Rada

The main legal department of the Verkhovna Rada conducted an analysis of draft law No. 11416-d, which provides for an increase in the military levy and other taxes, and found that some of its provisions do not comply with the Constitution of Ukraine. This is stated in the conclusion of the legal department regarding the text of the draft law prepared for the second reading.

“In the Main Legal Department, a legal examination of the draft law of the same name, prepared for the second reading by the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, was carried out in an extremely short period of time and, according to the results of the examination, we note that its individual provisions do not correspond to the Constitution, are not consistent with the laws of Ukraine and do not take into account the legal position of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine”– emphasize the authors of the conclusion.

The main problems of the draft law:

Inequality and discrimination of taxpayers: Advance contributions from personal income tax (PIT), income tax and military duty proposed in the draft law do not take into account possible overpayments in previous periods and do not provide a mechanism for returning these overpayments. This violates the principle of equality and non-discrimination of taxpayers.

Violation of the constitutional status of the hryvnia: Establishing advance payments for exchange points in euros contradicts the constitutional role of the hryvnia as the only monetary unit of Ukraine.

Non-compliance with the principles of legal certainty and predictability: The draft law does not comply with Article 8 of the Constitution of Ukraine, as it violates the principles of legal certainty, which require the law to be clear and understandable, and its consequences predictable.

The Chief Legal Department also stressed that the law must be promulgated in advance and formulated clearly so that citizens can anticipate its consequences and plan their behavior in accordance with the law. The Constitutional Court has already paid attention to this aspect in its decisions.