The controversial check in the SFS: forgiven 16 billion of tax debts and missing documentation
Over the past three years, for 2014-2016-ies, tax debts to the state budget has grown in 3,8 times – up to almost 59 billion UAH at the beginning of 2017.
Such data results the accounting chamber notes that the auditors acknowledged the current system of state management of tax debt inefficient and opaque.
“Measures carried out by fiscal authorities with the aim of preventing the growth of the tax debt and penalties from taxpayers, not only led to a decrease in the rate of growth or its decline, and Vice versa – tax debt under taxes, duties, payments to the state budget for 2014-2016 has increased 3.8 times and as of 1 January 2017 has reached nearly 59 billion. The main part of the tax debt of the state budget was generated by the value added tax, tax on profits of enterprises and rent payments, whose share in the total volume of tax debt averaged 88%”, – stated in the message.
The chamber noted that the work of the fiscal service in this regard was inconclusive.
“It is surprising that a key performance indicator for the State fiscal service of Ukraine “the Dynamics of the tax debt” for 2016-2017, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine determined without taking into account annually the newly formed tax debt. It is, in the opinion of the auditors, did not stimulate the work of organs of State fiscal services for the prevention of its growth, and measures of the bodies of SFSU concerning the compulsory repayment of the tax debt was not only ineffective but also inefficient. In this causal chain disappointing factor was the facts that the territorial bodies of the state fiscal service during the studied period, on average, repaid less than 1% of the tax debt and stress, only due to the sale of the property which is in tax pledge, or through seizure of assets of debtors,” said the authors in the chamber.
In the past three years, the fiscal service forgave the delinquent 15.8 bn UAH of a tax debt.
“Thus, the inefficiency of the accepted authorities of penalties to debtors led to the fact that the tax debt becomes not only the status of “hopeless”, but later written off. Debts and disappear like water off a goose. Because of these omissions, SFSU, as a result of writing off bad tax debt to the state budget over the past three years not received 15.8 billion UAH”, – said in the chamber.
The number of enterprises having tax debt has increased twice.
The accounting chamber auditors also “found evidence of negligence, improper performance of sfsu employees of their responsibilities in relation to the storage of office documents. As it turned out, the State fiscal service of Ukraine not only lost the electronic copy portion of incoming documents, in particular, the grant of installments (deferred) monetary obligations (tax debt), but still cannot recover. Due to the lack of access to the database, the auditors were not able to verify the validity of the decisions of GFS of Ukraine on these issues to determine the presence or absence of corruption risk”.
The chamber has prepared proposals on amending legislation and mechanisms work to increase the efficiency and transparency of fiscal services and reduce tax debts.
We will remind, the Chairman of the State fiscal service of the Roman Nasirov was suspended from duty. The court arrested him for two months with a right of Deposit in the amount of UAH 100 million. Everything’s possible involvement in the gas “schemes Onishchenko” and installments of taxes which the state budget fell short of UAH 2 billion.