Tax disputes & audits
Blocked Tax Invoices in Ukraine: Unblocking and Appeals
Tax invoice registration suspended in Ukraine under Resolution No. 1165? The data table, the unblocking documents and how appeals are decided.
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Tax disputes & audits
Challenging tax assessments, counterparty fictitiousness and the role of examination in disputes with the tax service.
A dispute with the tax authorities begins with an audit report and ends with a figure in a tax notice-decision. Between those two points there are at least three moments where an economic calculation changes the outcome: objections to the report, administrative appeal to a higher-level authority (Article 56 of the Tax Code) and a claim before the administrative court.
The taxpayer's key procedural advantage is Article 77(2) of the Code of Administrative Procedure: the duty to prove the lawfulness of a decision rests on the public authority. If an expert study shows that the authority's calculation is not supported by documents or contains methodological errors, the burden of proving otherwise stays with the tax service. An error in the base calculation also carries the penalty and late-payment interest with it, since both are derived from the assessed amount.
The most common battlegrounds are overstated input VAT and “unreal” transactions with a counterparty, unconfirmed expenses for corporate income tax, allegations of business splitting through private entrepreneurs, and blocked tax invoices. This section covers the types of audit and their grounds, how to draft objections to an audit report, which questions to put to an expert in a tax dispute, and where the line runs between an administrative dispute and criminal proceedings under Article 212 of the Criminal Code.
Articles in this category
Tax disputes & audits
Disputing VAT Assessments in Ukraine: Denied Tax Credit
Ukraine's tax authority assessed VAT and denied your input credit over unreal transactions? A forensic economist explains how to disprove it.
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Tax disputes & audits
Profit Tax Assessments in Ukraine: When Costs Are Disallowed
Why Ukraine's tax service disallows expenses and assesses profit tax, and how economic expertise substantiates costs and rebuts adjustments.
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Tax disputes & audits
Fictitious Counterparty in Ukraine: Tax Risk and Defence
Ukraine's tax service disallows costs and VAT credit over a fictitious supplier? Defence after decriminalisation, due diligence, your rights.
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Tax disputes & audits
Appealing a Tax Notice-Decision in Ukraine: Deadlines
How to appeal a tax notice-decision (PPR) in Ukraine: the 10-day complaint to the DPS, the court route under the KAS, and forensic economic examination.
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Tax disputes & audits
Questions for an Expert in a Ukrainian Tax Dispute
Framing the right questions for a forensic economic expert in a Ukrainian tax dispute, and keeping the resulting expert report admissible in court.
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Tax disputes & audits
Proving Transactions Were Real in a Ukrainian Tax Dispute
Ukraine's tax service disallowed your input VAT or costs as unreal transactions? How primary records and expertise prove the supply took place.
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Tax disputes & audits
Cost of Economic Examination in a Ukrainian Tax Dispute
How much an economic examination costs in a tax dispute with Ukraine's tax authority, how long it takes under Instruction No. 53/5, and who pays for it.
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Tax disputes & audits
Types of Tax Audit in Ukraine: Grounds and Taxpayer Rights
Tax audits under Ukraine's Tax Code: desk, scheduled, unscheduled and factual — grounds, time limits, taxpayer rights, and when an expert review helps.
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Tax disputes & audits
Objecting to a Tax Audit Report in Ukraine: How to File
Received a tax audit report in Ukraine? The ten working day deadline, the structure of the objections and why documentary evidence decides it.
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Frequently asked questions
Can an expert conclusion cancel a tax notice-decision?
No — only the court can annul it. An expert conclusion is evidence, weighed by the court together with the rest of the file. It is, however, usually the only source that shows the court exactly where the authority's calculation fails arithmetically and methodologically.
Is it better to commission an examination before or during the case?
A pre-trial study often becomes the foundation of the claim: it shows which figures are wrong and why, and lets the relief be framed properly. If a sharp dispute over methodology remains, the court may order an examination by its own ruling. The two routes do not compete — they complement each other.
Who has to prove that an assessment is lawful?
The tax authority. Article 77(2) of the Code of Administrative Procedure places the burden of proving the lawfulness of a decision on the public authority. The taxpayer need not prove innocence, but must produce the documents that support the figures in its reporting, as Article 44 of the Tax Code requires.
Does an examination help when tax invoices are blocked?
Unblocking is primarily an administrative procedure: filing explanations and copies of documents with the regional commission and, if refused, appealing. An economic analysis helps by documenting the resources available and the reality of the transaction behind the invoice.