In Ukraine, a tax change package is being prepared under IMF requirements

Ukraine is preparing a large-scale draft law that will consolidate several unpopular tax decisions necessary for continuing cooperation with the International Monetary Fund. This concerns the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which is planned to be brought to parliament for consideration as early as February. 

People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak revealed the government's plans and the progress of negotiations with the IMF in a video on his YouTube channel 'Iron People's Deputy'. 

According to him, the Ukrainian side has effectively confirmed its readiness to promote all tax changes that the fund insists on, despite their unpopularity.

Tax changes for cooperation with the IMF

The 'big tax law' plans to include several of the fund's requirements. Among them are — cancellation of the exemption for duty-free import of international parcels worth up to 150 euros, introduction of taxation on income from digital platforms, as well as establishing the military tax rate at 5% without limitation due to martial law. Currently, it is expected that after its cancellation, the rate would decrease to 1.5%.

An individual point is the restriction on the use of individual entrepreneurs in public procurement, the introduction of labor relationship criteria, and preparation for the introduction of VAT for individual entrepreneurs. These provisions are causing the most resistance in parliament.

Big tax law: what's next

According to information from parliament, most of these norms are wanted to be 'packaged' into one draft law to gather the necessary 226 votes. As a possible compromise, deputies might be offered the cancellation of the lifetime status of politically significant individuals (PEP). At the same time, according to Zheleznyak, even such an approach does not guarantee support in the session hall.

Ukraine has been negotiating a new program with the IMF since autumn 2025. Its volume is about 8.2 billion dollars for four years; however, without this program, the country risks losing access to much larger financing from the European Union. That is why, the deputy emphasizes, there is practically no alternative to fulfilling the commitments undertaken by the government.

Recall that the leader of 'Fatherland', Yulia Tymoshenko opposed the government's idea to introduce VAT for individual entrepreneurs with an annual income of 1 million hryvnias. She believes that this could lead to the closure of many small enterprises, affecting the country's middle class.