Telegram 
Viber 
Whatsapp 
Messenger New in the administration of profit tax
Amendments to the Tax Code regarding profit tax were introduced by Law No.50831. Tax officials in the letter essentially remind of these innovations, which were added to clause 57.1 of the Tax Code and mainly concern the payment of profit tax advance payments.
The Law introduced changes to the payment of profit tax
Letter of the State Tax Service of Ukraine dated 03.10.2012 No.4975/0/71-12/15-1217
The annotated letter from the main tax authority reminds that, from January 1, 2013, the approach to declaring and paying taxpayers’ profit tax liabilities is fundamentally changing. Amendments to the Tax Code concerning profit tax were introduced by Law No.50831. Tax officials in the letter essentially remind of these innovations, which were added to clause 57.1 of the Tax Code and mainly concern the payment of advance payments of profit tax. What the STSU emphasizes is that profit taxpayers will independently determine the advance payment of profit tax to be paid to the budget monthly. Accordingly, such changes in the Tax Code require amendments to the profit tax declaration form. As tax officials note in the commented letter, “…changes to the relevant profit tax declaration forms have already been prepared, which are currently undergoing the approval process with the relevant ministries and agencies in the manner prescribed by law.” It is clear that when submitting the profit tax return for the reporting year 2012 taxpayers must already declare advance payments — submit the calculation of monthly advance payments. Of course, provided that such payments are applicable.
However, according to paragraph 2 of subsection 4 of section XX of the Tax Code, corporate profit taxpayers shall pay in January — February 2013 an advance payment of this tax in the amount of 1/9 of the profit tax calculated in the tax reporting for the nine months of 2012, within 20 calendar days following the last calendar day of the reporting (tax) month. The STSU also reminds about this in the commented letter and draws the attention of its local offices that they must “…take all measures to prevent a decrease in the accrual of profit tax in Q3 2012 compared to Q2 2012”.
Many questions remain unanswered in the commented letter. For example, it is still unknown whether the obligation to pay advance payments in January — February 2013 applies to all profit taxpayers without exception whose nine-month 2012 return shows a figure in line 14. But, as the chief tax officials note in their letter, a “…generalized tax consultation regarding the procedures and peculiarities of filing reports and paying tax in 2013 is being prepared, taking into account simplifications in this procedure pursuant to Law of Ukraine No.5083-VI”. We hope that the generalized tax consultation will be more detailed and that taxpayers will find answers to all the questions that concern them.
Another task that the STSU communicates to its subordinates seems strange, namely: “in the event that a taxpayer who pays an advance payment, based on the results of the first quarter of the reporting (tax) year, did not receive profit or incurred a loss, and therefore does not make advance payments in the second through fourth quarters of the reporting (tax) year, to take measures to accelerate the submission by such taxpayers of tax reporting for Q1 of the reporting year, which will be evidence of the legitimacy of the taxpayer’s non-payment of the advance payment in April of the reporting year”. We will only draw your attention to two other tasks posed to local STS bodies (the list of tasks that tax authorities must perform in the commented letter is considerably larger), and you can draw your own conclusions:
- involving all profit taxpayers in the payment of the advance payment in accordance with the provisions of the Tax Code;
- expanding the base for calculating profit tax based on the results of declaring tax for the nine months of the current year and for 2012 as a whole.
Interesting tasks, aren’t they? It only remains to summarize — everyone must pay advance payments in 2013! The list of tasks for the STS bodies given in the commented letter:
- take all measures to prevent a decrease in profit tax accrual in Q3 2012 compared to Q2 2012;
- timely conduct desk audits of the submitted profit tax reports for the nine months of the current year and for 2012 as a whole, and in case of violations, draw up desk audit reports and issue tax notices-decisions;
- in the event of recalculating the base for calculating the payable profit tax advance — either by taxpayers’ voluntary correction of errors or as a result of audits conducted by tax authorities — ensure the calculation and payment of the profit tax advance from the total assessment base, that is, taking such recalculations into account;
- in the event of establishing understatement of the calculation and payment of the monthly profit tax advance payment, ensure additional tax assessment and application of penalties in accordance with current legislation.