Arseniy Yatsenyuk: Government has paid off UAH 7 billion of VAT refund

"Together with the Minister of Finance and Chairman of the State Fiscal Service, we are engaged in work to ensure by the end of the year the amount of reimbursement to be maximized and to pay off debts on VAT refund", said Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk at the meeting of the Export Promotion Council on Monday, December 10.

The Head of Government noted that the dynamics of the VAT reimbursement has become "better than a few years ago." Refund debts declined from UAH 22 billion to UAH 15 billion – by UAH 7 billion.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk also noted that the total amount of the overpayment by companies to the budget is about UAH 24 billion: "We are seeking the way out with our Western partners, primarily with the IMF, how to settle the debt of the state to each of the companies".

He stressed that the Government had made significant steps in the administration of value added tax: "Argument arouse against the system of administration within the walls of the Ukrainian Parliament. Too many companies that are up to date present in Ukrainian politics opposed the system of VAT administration. Indeed, it was a scheme to pump out billions of funds from the state budget".

However, after these steps of the Government, he said, "month after month we see a growing trend in the collection of value added tax".

"Now we should ensure a mirror effect in reimbursement process. We collect VAT honestly and transparently, so now we should refund it honestly and transparently", emphasized the Head of Government.

Moreover, he explained the Government had approved a program of reforming of the State Fiscal Service: "It implies apart from arithmetic elimination of 30% posts in the State Fiscal Service that is being underway. And apart from that fact, we have restructured a number of regional SFS departments. But a key issue is tax administration".

The Prime Minister stressed that the draft Tax Code envisages the simplification of tax administration.