Arseniy Yatsenyuk at a SFS meeting: Ukraine should change its attitude to taxpayer

On 15 July, Ukrainian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk held a meeting at the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine.

The meeting was attended by Chairman of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine Ihor Belous, SFS First Deputy Chairman Volodymyr Khomenko, SFS Deputy Chairman Anatolii Makarenko, SFS tax and customs department’s director Natalia Ruban. On direct communication were the heads of all SFS regional units.

Addressing those present at the meeting, Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed that today everyone should realize that "this is not the Ukraine, which was even six months ago, and therefore it is not the tax office, which has been for the past 10 years."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk also underlined that Ukraine has been declared war, "about which you can’t read in textbooks, as that has never happened before." "Someone calls it a hybrid war, someone - hidden. But our soldiers are being killed, terrorists are killing civilians as well as the country. They kill just because we are saying we are free men and a free state, we want to move towards Europe."

"Putin had and still has a clear task - to destroy Ukraine, to restore its influence in the post-Soviet space. He has failed to realize this plan as they would like. They have miscalculated in Donetsk, Luhansk, Odesa, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson. He [President Vladimir Putin] has miscalculated. There was no applause to a Russian tricolor”, said Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

But this, according to the PM, "does not mean that the Russian president has stopped":"Now their plan of political destabilization, separatist ideology has been changed to the social and economic instability. Those who participated in the rally for Novorossia [new Russia] have already begun to talk about pensions and salaries. These are the same persons- agents of the FSB sent here tens of years ago. "

He emphasized that the Government together with the SFS should seek for "the answer to the question of how provide people with food and work." While the Russian President "will do everything to close the markets, rock the situation, including corruption in the State Fiscal Service."

"We need to fund the army and defense. We need Ukrainians to know that we are able to defend our country. And know that the Tax Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the new State Fiscal Service shall not remain an enclave of corruption," he stressed.

The Prime Minister gave a number of orders to the SFS. In particular, as to the development of a Code of economic growth. He emphasized the need to reduce the number of taxes, increase the tax base and simplify the tax system: "Ukraine should change its tax system as well as its attitude to a taxpayer."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has also ordered to create a financial investigation service. "The elimination of the tax police and a new quality in financial investigations", set the task the Prime Minister. 

Moreover, the Prime Minister stressed the need to move "towards a new form of checks" - verification, using IT technologies through a database that the SFS possesses.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk has also instructed to immediately enter special VAT invoices and underlined that he would do his best in order to make the Parliament to take a decision on "tax compromise".

The PM has informed that these orders should be implemented by September 2014. "The deadline is September 1. And even that’s too much," emphasized Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

"It's not about the fate of the State Fiscal Service, but the fate of the country. People want real action. Do it. Make your employees to fulfill their obligations", urged the Prime Minister the SFS representatives.