The forthcoming April Fool’s Day is sure to be important for Ukrainians. In addition to the early news about the election returns, April 1 will mean the deadline for declaring additional income (exceeding UAH 993 [$190]) earned last year apart from one’s regular place of employment. But, as Department Chief of the Obolon District Tax Administration Valentyna Pastushenko told The Day, correspondents who visited her office last Thursday, the citizens don’t seem to be too worried by the approaching deadline. “Each day we receive ten to twenty people, but on the last days the number could exceed a thousand,” she said. “And then they complain about the long lines.”
But some citizens are already having trouble. Last week, for instance, eight people from the Yabluko [Apple] Bloc election list were ousted from the election race for serious breaches found in their income statements. In particular, bloc leader Mykhailo Brodsky withheld information on UAH 186,949 [$35,273] he had deposited with statutory funds of companies, and Viktor Chaika, the number two candidate, tried to “conceal” UAH 188,126.50 [$35,495.60] from the Central Election Committee, www.for-ua.com reports. All the other Johnny Appleseeds were withdrawn for the same reason of failing to declare various sums of additional income. For the same offense, the CEC withdrew 19 candidates nominated by the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc. The same happened to two candidates from SDPU(o) [Social-Democratic party of Ukraine (United)], 11 from the Communist Party, 9 from the Women for the Future Association, and 8 from the Natalia Vitrenko Bloc.
In general, Ms. Pastushenko said, the situation when people declare incorrect sums of their incomes is not new. “In such cases we can fine them up to UAH 51 [$9.60].” Under the Decree on Taxation of Individual Income, Ukrainians are required to keep records of their incomes. But, according to Pastushenko, 99% of our citizens do not, just because this is our mentality. “Elsewhere in the world people calculate their taxes, but our people don’t,” she continued. “Sometimes people are so careless or inattentive that when they fill in the income statement form, they write the amount of their income which equals the amount of their tax: they just write what they see before their eyes”.
Meanwhile, those who came yesterday to submit their income statements, had a somewhat different point of view: everyone who agreed to talk to The Day correspondent in the district tax office were sure that such a form of accounting is inconvenient. According to Svitlana Manek, a doctor, UAH 993 a year is too little, it just is not worth all this trouble. “Actually, it doesn’t even come to a hundred a month, that’s almost nothing with today’s prices. And it doesn’t only take standing in line here. Last year they made me pay an additional two hryvnias of tax, which cost me a whole day.”
Her opinion was shared by Viktor Yaremenko, retired, who agreed that the ceiling on additional income, which does not require to be accounted for, could be raised and that the present form of accounting is quite inconvenient. “And what if I have earned UAH 1,300 outside my regular job? Why do I have to spend all day beating down doors here for this paltry three hundred?”
The tax officers trump such complaints saying that an income statement can be sent by mail, but if something incorrect is detected, you will have to “come and explain yourself.” According to Ms. Pastushenko, up to 10% of citizens do not submit their income statements every year. In that case they are notified by mail that they have to come to the local tax office where their fine will be considered. Incidentally, even having paid the fine, you will have to submit your income statement. So the candidates for Verkhovna Rada must have already paid their fines, and now they have to submit declarations.
