The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine endorsed the draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine (hereinafter – CCU) concerning the responsibility for falsification of medicinal products or circulation of counterfeit medicinal products.
According to the amendments to Art. 3211 of the CCU, the manufacture, purchase, transportation, shipment, storage for sale or sale of counterfeit medicines will be punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to eight years (now three to five years).
The same actions taken repeatedly or by a group of persons, an official through abuse of authority, a medical or pharmaceutical worker, or through information systems, including the Internet, will be punished by imprisonment for a term of eight to ten years, with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years with confiscation of property.
The actions that have caused death or other grave consequences, or are especially serious, will be punished by imprisonment for a term of 10 to 15 years or life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The draft was submitted for signature to the President of Ukraine.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine in the individual tax consultation “On green tax” No. 1262/6/99-00-04-04-03-15/ІПК of November 8, 2019 clarified whether the enterprises are to pay the green tax for the disposal of waste, if there are agreements with specialized enterprises for disposal.
Tax specialists reported that the green tax payer in the part of the waste generated by the enterprise are specialized enterprises that have received permits from the authorized bodies to dispose permanently waste in specially designated areas or objects (places of disposal of waste, storage facilities, landfills, complexes, structures, areas of subsoil, etc.).
To ensure the requirements of i. 240.5 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, the business entities, including the enterprise, must be equipped with specially designated places for temporary disposal of waste and introduce proper accounting of waste of different classes of hazard for contractual obligations with specialized enterprises for disposal or placement (burial) of waste.
The State Tax Service of Ukraine in category 115.03 “ЗІР” answered the question “Is it necessary to obtain a license for the sale of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products if a business entity plans to distribute alcoholic beverages (tobacco products) during a promotional event (presentation) free of charge?
Tax specialists reminded that in accordance with Art. 1 of the Law of Ukraine No. 481/95-BP of December 19, 1995 “On State Regulation of Production and Distribution of Ethyl, Cognac and Fruit, Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Fuel” (hereinafter – Law No. 481) retail trade is defined as an activity of sale of goods directly to citizens and other end consumers for their personal non-commercial use, regardless of the form of payments, including bottling in restaurants, cafes, bars, other catering entities.
Retail sale of alcoholic beverages (except for table wines) or tobacco or fuel can be carried out by business entities of all forms of ownership, including their producers, with licenses for retail trade (Art. 15 of Law No. 481).
According to subitem 14.1.202 of the TCU sale of goods is any transaction carried out under contracts of sale, exchange, delivery and other economic, civil and legal agreements, which provide for the transfer of ownership of such goods for payment or compensation regardless of terms of its provision, as well as operations on the provision of goods free of charge.
Therefore, in the case of distribution of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, the ownership of the alcoholic beverages and tobacco is transferred to the consumer free of charge. Thus, such transactions are considered to be sales transactions and may only be carried out under licenses for retail of alcoholic beverages and tobacco.
Financial penalties shall be applied to business entities in the event of such operations being carried out without the license for retail of ethyl alcohol, cognac and fruit, grape ethyl rectified alcohol, fruit rectified ethyl alcohol, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products without licenses – 200% of the value of the received batch of goods, but not less than 17 000 UAH (Art. 17 of Law No. 481).
The State Tax Service of Ukraine in category 109.13 “ЗІР” answered the question “Does the limit of maximum amount of cash UAH 10,000 (50,000) apply to payments made by taxpayers by depositing cash at the bank's cash desk for further transfer to the recipient’s account?”.
Pursuant to i. 6, Part II of the Regulation on conducting national currency cash transactions in Ukraine No. 148 , approved by the Regulation of the NBU Board of Ministers dated December 29, 2017 (hereinafter – Regulation No. 148), business entities are entitled to make cash payments within one days on one or more payment documents:
1) among themselves – up to UAH 10,000 inclusive;
2) with individuals – up to UAH 50,000 inclusive.
In case of withdrawal of cash from current accounts for the purpose of cash payments with natural persons, the business entities are obliged to submit at the request of the bank (subsidiaries, branches) the supporting documents on the basis of which such cash payments are required by the bank (subsidiaries, branches) to study the client applying risk-oriented approach.
Payments above set limits are made through banks or non-banking financial institutions licensed in accordance with the law to transfer funds in national currency without opening an account, by transferring funds from a current account to a current account or depositing funds with a bank or a non-bank financial institution for further transfer to current bank accounts. The number of entities and individuals with whom cash payments are made is not limited during the day.
The restriction set out in i. 6 of Charter II of Regulation No. 148 also applies to settlements made during payment for goods purchased for production (business) needs in cash received by electronic means of payment.
Therefore, the limitation of the maximum amount of cash settlement of 10,000 (50,000) UAH does not apply to the payments made by taxpayers by depositing cash at the bank's cash desk for its further transfer to the recipient's account.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is launching the E-Residency project – the country's electronic citizenship.
E-residency gives foreign businesses the following opportunities:
- remotely create and manage businesses in Ukraine;
- sign documents with an electronic signature that fully complies with the new legislation;
- gain access to the banking services, convenient online payments and work with suppliers.
As a result, people from all over the world will be able to easily set up a business in Ukraine. And this will benefit the domestic economy.
The most successful example of a country where the e-residence system works is Estonia. Currently, over 60,000 people from 160 countries have benefited from the Estonian program. In 2018, e-residents contributed 8.7 million euros in Estonian budget. In total, the system brought in € 25 million. And this is not the only example – similar conditions for foreign citizens and companies also work in Azerbaijan. The Government plans to approve the pilot project by the beginning of next year.
