Danylo Hetmantsev, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy, announced that he would propose to the State Tax Service of Ukraine to conduct test purchases of iPhone 17 by the end of September or in October in well-known retail chains.
Danylo Hetmantsev, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy, announced that he would propose to the State Tax Service of Ukraine to conduct test purchases of iPhone 17 by the end of September or in October in well-known retail chains.
«I don’t want to seem boring, but I still suggest that by the end of September or October, the State Tax Service purchase new iPhone 17s as part of its inspection work in well-known store chains, or even better, online. You can do it together with BEB,» wrote Getmantsev.
He emphasized that regulators should «not forget» to properly process the seizure of smuggled goods.
On September 9, Apple officially introduced four new iPhone 17 models — the basic iPhone 17, the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air (instead of Plus), iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
The base model officially costs $799, Air — $899, Pro — $1099 and Pro Max — $1199. Pre-orders for new products will open on September 12 at 3:00 PM Kyiv time, and sales will start on September 19.
Last fall, the CEO of the COMFY electronics store chain, Ihor Khyzhnyak, published a post on Facebook in which he said that he was able to purchase an iPhone 16 in Ukraine before the start of official sales. According to him, «not a single penny» was paid to the state budget for these gadgets.
Later, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, said that as part of the fight against the shadow electronics market, 170 actual inspections of stores that sold Apple products were currently being conducted. Among them were Yabko, Yabluka, and Techno Yizhak.
Yabko reported that after inspections, they reported on the proper payment of taxes — 257 million UAH for the last 9 months. The company assures that all its imports are carried out legally, with payment of the full tax burden. Some of the equipment is purchased from Ukrainian suppliers, the rest is imported directly, with customs clearance and documentation in accordance with the law.
«There is no „better“ indicator of the „work“ of law enforcement officers and fiscal officers than full-scale advertising on the country’s most powerful advertising platforms of smugglers and their contraband novelties,» Danylo Hetmantsev noted in his post.
Recently, the acting head of the State Tax Service, Lesya Karnaukh, said that the demand for Apple products in Ukraine is much higher than the supply of official products to the country. Therefore, electronics sellers are proposing to introduce mandatory registration of mobile phones via IMEI — a unique 15-digit code that identifies each mobile device. Such a decision may negatively affect owners of Apple gadgets from «gray» imports.
Meanwhile, prices for the new iPhone 17 have appeared in Ukrainian stores. It is not yet known exactly how much the new gadget will cost in Ukraine, including customs duties and delivery, but retailers are already collecting pre-orders, and the price range is wide.
