Attention to expensive purchases
The State Tax Service of Ukraine (STS) does not act as the 'fashion police', but pays attention to expensive purchases such as cars in cases where a person has no official income. Acting Head of the STS Lesya Karnauh stated in her interview that the purchase of expensive assets without declared income may signal a need for verification.
Risk-oriented approach
The STS employs a risk-oriented approach (CRM) in its work, which allows identifying potential risks and checking them. As part of this approach, the tax service collaborates with the service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is responsible for car registration. This cooperation provides access to 40 state registries, allowing the STS to obtain necessary information for analyzing citizens' financial transactions.
Lesya Karnauh also emphasized that if a person can justify their savings and provide relevant explanations, there are no obstacles to purchasing expensive assets.
“If this is savings, if a person has enough explanations, then why not, as they say, let them buy” - Lesya Karnauh.Thus, the STS does not control citizens' household expenses, but pays attention to certain aspects of financial activity to prevent tax evasion.
This initiative of the STS indicates the growing attention of Ukrainian tax authorities to financial transparency and combating tax evasion. The introduction of a risk-oriented approach allows focusing efforts on potentially risky cases, which may enhance the effectiveness of tax control in the country. In turn, this can help strengthen trust in the taxation system and encourage citizens to be more financially responsible.