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Стас ЮрасовThat's Life
23 April 2026, 15:52
2026-04-23
A YouTube video led the tax authorities to Yabko store: the company lost the court case and must pay almost UAH 350,000 in fines for "gray" iPhones
The Lviv District Administrative Court refused to cancel the fine imposed on the tax authorities by LLC «Speshltech» (which manages the Yabko electronics store). Inspectors found new and used iPhones in the shop windows without documents about their origin. And the most interesting thing in this story is how exactly the tax authorities learned about the possible violations.
The Lviv District Administrative Court refused to cancel the fine imposed on the tax authorities by LLC «Speshltech» (which manages the Yabko electronics store). Inspectors found new and used iPhones in the shop windows without documents about their origin. And the most interesting thing in this story is how exactly the tax authorities learned about the possible violations.
dev.ua examined the court case materials and tells the details of this case.
What is YouTube and cryptocurrency?
In November 2024, tax officials from the Rivne region visited the local Yabko store (Specialtech LLC) for an actual inspection.
The reason for the visit was an interesting letter from the central office of the State Tax Service. It said that information had appeared on one of the YouTube channels: expensive APPLE equipment is being sold en masse in Ukraine, but it is offered to be paid for not through the official terminal, but by card-to-card transfers (P2P) or even virtual assets (cryptocurrency).
Of course, with such payments, buyers are not issued fiscal receipts (PRO), and the sellers themselves often do not have documents confirming the official origin of the «Apple» equipment. The tax office decided to check this.
What was found in the store?
During an inspection at Yabko in Rivne, inspectors asked for documents for the goods displayed in the windows. However, the company was unable to confirm the accounting and origin of the equipment totaling 308,827 hryvnias.
The court documents mention specific smartphone models that were sold without documents:
iPhone 13 128GB Starlight (new);
iPhone 12 128GB White (used);
iPhone 13 128GB Midnight (used).
In addition, at the start of the inspection, the store representatives did not provide the tax authorities with bank statements and acquiring data. As a result, the tax authorities issued a fine of UAH 347,579.80 to Speshltech LLC (the law provides for a fine of 100% of the cost of unaccounted goods plus additional sanctions).
Business position and court decision
The company did not agree with the fine and went to the Lviv District Administrative Court to sue. The main argument of the lawyers of LLC «Speshltech»: the inspection order was illegal, because it did not indicate specific grounds, and the tax authorities were allegedly provided with all the necessary primary documents.
However, the judge shattered these arguments:
The information from YouTube is sufficient. The court ruled that the law allows the tax authorities to come with an inspection if there is information about alleged violations (lack of terminals or documents for the goods). A letter from the State Tax Service with a link to a YouTube video is a completely legitimate reason.
The documents must be shown immediately. The business entity is obliged to keep records of inventory. If at the time of the start of the inspection there are no documents for the goods at the point of sale, this is already an independent basis for a fine.
Recall, in March we wrote a detailed news about the fact that the Lviv court had seized the seized property of Yabko stores. We were talking about thousands of pieces of equipment, and not only Apple. Even more than 40,000 pieces of protective glass were seized.
