The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy supported draft law No. 15112-1, which provides for the abolition of the current limit of 150 euros for duty-free receipt of international parcels. This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
The document is an alternative project submitted by the Servant of the People faction, and is currently recommended for adoption as a basis. The first reading in the session hall is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7.
The adoption of this decision is one of the mandatory conditions (“beacon”) of the International Monetary Fund for the continuation of financing Ukraine. The bill provides for amendments to the Tax Code, but the main control mechanisms will be implemented through amendments to the Customs Code within the framework of another bill on the CRI for Customs. This technical solution should ensure the effective collection of fees from a large number of small shipments.
“This law is an amendment to the Tax Code. It is not the main and technical one here. The main changes to the Customs Code will be made through amendments to another bill,” explained Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
Despite active consideration, a quick introduction of new taxes is not expected. In case of final adoption, the provisions of the law will come into force no earlier than the beginning of 2027. The implementation of the initiative requires not only political will, but also the creation of a complex IT system that will allow the State Customs Service to automatically tax hundreds of thousands of shipments. The government expects that such measures will allow attracting up to 10 billion hryvnias of additional revenues to the budget each year.
The MP suggests that the development and testing of the necessary software for customs may take longer than planned. This could potentially shift the actual date of the abolition of the privilege to a later date, 2027. Currently, the draft law is being prepared for revision between the first and second readings, where the technical aspects of automating customs payments will be studied in detail.
