Cars for 1 hryvnia and the shadow market: Zheleznyak announced new tax evasion schemes

In Ukraine, up to 92% of the used car resale market may be operating in the shadows, and the budget loses billions of hryvnias in taxes each year. This was stated by people's deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak before the meeting of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada, which is investigating possible abuses in the import and sale of vehicles.

It was stated in Parliament about the sale of hundreds of cars for 1 hryvnia

According to Zheleznyak, only this year, 814 transactions for the sale of cars for the symbolic price of 1 hryvnia were registered in Ukraine.

These are not only budget cars but also premium brand vehicles, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Land Rover, and Jaguar.

The deputy claims that such operations are used to minimize taxes, as the actual value of the car is not reflected in official documents.

According to him, actual transactions between the parties often occur in cash outside the official accounting.

What schemes have been found in the car resale market

One of the most common schemes, according to Zheleznyak, is the so-called “first sale.”

It involves the repeated resale of the same vehicle between fictitious persons for symbolic prices, allowing them to avoid tax payments.

The Temporary Investigative Commission also drew attention to entrepreneurs under the simplified tax system who sell vehicles despite the fact that they belong to excise goods.

According to the deputy, only a few dozen such individual entrepreneurs have sold cars worth over 1.8 billion hryvnias in a short period.

Separately, the committee plans to consider schemes with Euro-1 certificates, which allow for significant reductions in customs payments when importing cars from Europe.

Why this is important for the state budget

Zheleznyak emphasized that this is not about fighting private car imports or the activities of car dealers as such.

The main problem, according to him, lies in the unequal playing field in the market and widespread tax evasion.

The people's deputy believes that such schemes cause significant budget losses that could be directed to funding the army, healthcare, infrastructure, and other state needs.

During the TSK meeting, deputies plan to hear from representatives of customs, the tax service, the Bureau of Economic Security, and other agencies to determine the reasons for the existence of such schemes and the results of combating them.

Earlier, Zheleznyak mentioned the timelines for finalizing the cryptocurrency law in Ukraine.