Granting tax agent status to digital platforms such as Uklon, Uber, or Bolt will significantly simplify the administration of taxation for users selling goods and services through these platforms. This approach should be implemented in the bill that the Verkhovna Rada will consider in 2025, according to the head of the parliamentary finance committee, Daniil Getmantsev.
"This is better for state administration and easier for individuals, as a person will receive income already with the tax deducted, which will be withheld by the platform and paid into the state budget. Therefore, I support the approach of making the platform a tax agent," he stated in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The head of the committee on finance, tax, and customs policy added that such income is proposed to be taxed at a reduced rate of 5%, and a simplified administration procedure—where the platform acts as a tax agent—is also suggested by the OECD.
At the same time, Getmantsev noted that in the model developed by the Ministry of Finance, it was assumed that the platform must provide the State Tax Service with data about individuals, while the individual would need to submit their own declaration: to declare this income, report to the state, and pay taxes.
"This implies an obligation for hundreds of thousands of our citizens to submit these declarations," he explained, reiterating that he considers the option of platforms withholding taxes as tax agents to be more preferable.
Getmantsev also clarified that if users of digital platforms are registered as individual entrepreneurs, the taxation procedure for their income through these platforms will be different, as they will pay taxes themselves.
As reported, the extended financing program for Ukraine with the IMF contains a structural benchmark for the submission of a bill introducing tax reporting requirements for digital platform operators by the end of April 2025.
The head of the finance committee also indicated that Ukraine plans to join the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Information on Income Earned Through Digital Platforms (DPI), which includes about 30 countries. This agreement is developed in accordance with the OECD's model rules for digital platform reporting and directives from 2021, and for Ukraine to join, it needs to adopt the aforementioned bill.
"At the same time, we have successful experience in implementing the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) data exchange, and I believe we already know how to do this effectively. The only thing to remember is that many people—hundreds of thousands of our citizens—will fall under these rules simultaneously. Therefore, we need to do everything possible to make this process as painless as possible. To achieve this, we must provide for a simplified administration procedure for this tax and a reduced rate," Getmantsev emphasized again.