Supreme Court ruling allows taxpayers to collect VAT refunds from state budget

The Supreme Court (represented by the Grand Chamber) has ruled that taxpayers may collect amounts owed by the state budget as VAT refunds directly from the state budget through court proceedings.

The full text of the resolution (in Ukrainian) is publicly available at: http://www.reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/80427413.

The conclusions set out in the said resolution are binding for all courts when settling relevant disputes.

In line with this decision, all taxpayers who have not received VAT refunds from the state budget (including for the period preceding 01.02.2016) or overpayments of other taxes may collect the relevant amounts, including penalty interest (if any), through the courts.

Previously, as a matter of practice, taxpayers were limited to recovering the relevant VAT amounts from the state budget, since the Temporary Register of Requests for VAT Refunds for periods preceding 01.02.2016 did not actually operate and according to the previous practice of the Supreme Court, collection of tax from the state budget qualified as an improper legal remedy.

From now on, whenever the state owes any VAT refunds (including amounts to be entered into the Temporary Register of Requests for VAT Refund) or refunds for other tax payments, the affected taxpayers should claim for recovery to the courts.

Sayenko Kharenko tax team is more than happy to advise and assist you in connection with the collection process by consulting, drafting administrative claims, litigating the case, and executing the documents required to collect debts through the relevant Treasury bodies.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact partner Svitlana Musienko, Head of Tax practice, and counsel Vitaliy Odzhykovskyy.