New taxes for IT-entrepreneurs and not only: what does the IMF propose, who and what should we expect, and what consequences should we prepare for? Analysis and opinions of IT professionals

What happened

The IMF requires Ukraine to abolish a number of tax and customs benefits for businesses and households; expand the tax base (including measures aimed at the «self-employed» / individual entrepreneurs), which should increase budget revenues; abolish duty-free import of parcels with a threshold of up to €150 (i.e. parcels cheaper than €150 will no longer be fully exempt from tax/customs duty).

These measures are part of the standard IMF recipe: narrowing benefits, broadening the tax base, and increasing the transparency of tax collection.

It is important to understand that an agreement is not an automatic legislative decision. After a staff-level agreement, the IMF board of directors must approve the program; before that, the government must fulfill a number of conditions and submit specific bills.

How taxes might change

Based on IMF communications and standard recommendations, the key areas of change are as follows:

1. Cancellation/narrowing of benefits — some preferential regimes (those that provide large tax preferences to certain business groups or households) may be canceled.
2. VAT base broadening — measures that reduce VAT evasion (including cases where a business formally becomes a «sole proprietorship» to avoid VAT) — for example, introducing VAT for certain categories of self-employed persons with income above a threshold amount.
3. Customs changes — reducing privileges for the import of small parcels (threshold €150) — which will increase revenue from customs duties and VAT on imports.

In his Telegram channel, People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak indicated in more detail, point by point, what this means for business and citizens.

1. Simplified taxation. The fund insists that Ukraine begin to combat schemes for using the simplified taxation system by large businesses to reduce their tax liabilities. So, among the IMF’s tax requirements, at least two provide for changes to the simplified taxation system. First, the introduction of mandatory payment of value added tax (VAT) for all simplified taxpayers whose annual income exceeds UAH 1 million. In fact, it is about making all individual entrepreneurs VAT payers except those in the first group. Second, introduce criteria for determining employment relationships. If the relationship between the company and the individual entrepreneur meets these criteria, the state will oblige the company to hire such an individual entrepreneur.
2. Parcels. Another requirement is to review the privilege for duty-free import of parcels from abroad. Currently, Ukrainians do not pay VAT and customs duties on imported parcels whose value does not exceed 150 euros.
3. Taxing income from digital platforms is another IMF requirement. It involves levying taxes on income that citizens receive from services such as Bolt, Uklon, Glovo, Booking.com, OnlyFans, or OLX. The latter is the name of the initiative that has led to its popular nickname, the «OLX tax.»
4. «Eternal» military levy. According to EP interlocutors who participated in negotiations with the IMF, the fund requires that Ukraine not abolish the 5% military levy even after the end of the war. Current legislation stipulates that the levy rate should return to 1,5% from January 1 of the year following the end of martial law.

What do the proposed changes mean for sole proprietors, including IT sole proprietors?

If the authorities really abolish the simplified taxation system for entrepreneurs of groups 2 and 3 and introduce the rule «VAT for income > 1 million UAH», then some small individual entrepreneurs will find themselves in the VAT field. This means a greater administrative burden (reporting, accounting), the need to issue VAT invoices to clients, and maintaining more formal accounting practices.

According to tax consultant Oleksandr Zaraysky, this will not affect individual entrepreneurs — freelancers who provide services to foreign customers. «But today, most of the services provided by such individual entrepreneurs are not subject to VAT at all in accordance with the Tax Code of Ukraine,» he says.

But such individual entrepreneurs will have to bother with bringing their contracts with foreign contractors into line with the requirements of the Tax Code. In particular, the name of the service should correspond letter by letter to clause 186.3 of Article 186 of the Code. «It will no longer be possible to write ‘as God wills’, because then hello, VAT. There may also be questions with those who provide services on freelance exchanges. But it’s too early to talk about this before a specific bill appears, says the consultant.

And one more point: according to Oleksandr, almost all exports of goods are subject to VAT at a rate of 0%. «So, this will not affect individual entrepreneurs who sell goods on foreign marketplaces either. However, they will have to take care of an accountant and appropriate accounting. Sending goods to the galai-balai will no longer work,» he notes.

At the same time, goods from China are now arriving in parcels without paying VAT and customs duties. «If this is eliminated (which is also required by the IMF), then in the event of the introduction of VAT for individual entrepreneurs, the majority will have to build schemes so that they import these goods not as individuals, but as individual entrepreneurs. In order to be able to further reduce VAT on sales by the amount of VAT paid at the border upon import,» predicts Zaraysky.

Anatoliy Amelin, co-founder and director of economic programs at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, believes that in the event of the introduction of new tax rules, every individual entrepreneur with an annual income of over a million hryvnias — which is approximately 83 thousand per month — should become a VAT payer. 170−250 thousand individual entrepreneurs will be affected. «For an IT specialist, consultant, designer, tutor with an income of $2,000, this means a threefold increase in taxes. From 7% of the effective rate to 20−22%. All at once. Specific figures: an individual entrepreneur with an income of two million hryvnias per year today pays about 140,000 hryvnias. After the reform — 380,000−430,000 hryvnias. The difference is a quarter of a million. This money must either be given to the state, or… not given…», says Amelin.

According to him, 170,000-250,000 individual entrepreneurs are affected — a tenth of the 1.7 million registered ones: mainly IT, consulting, and professional services.

When can individual entrepreneurs be required to pay VAT?

The prospect of tax innovations is not so close at the moment. «If it happens, it won’t be tomorrow,» says tax consultant Oleksandr Zaraysky.

He noted that the entire IMF program is designed for 4 years, so all these IMF requirements will be implemented in stages. «In my personal opinion, the introduction of mandatory VAT payment for single tax payers, if it happens, will be the last,» the specialist noted.

Making such changes, the consultant says, requires the development of an appropriate bill, which must first pass the relevant Committee in the Verkhovna Rada and then undergo two readings directly in the session hall.

«So this stage alone can take from 6 to 9 months. Given this, the introduction of VAT for single tax payers, if it happens, will not happen in 2026. Perhaps it will happen in 2027, although personally it seems to me that, most likely, it could happen (if it happens) later,» predicts Oleksandr.

To date, the authorities have already wanted/planned to introduce other changes that the IRF insists on, including taxation of income from digital platforms and taxation of parcels from foreign marketplaces regardless of value.

«Most likely, these changes will be adopted first. Especially since the draft law on digital platforms is already in the Verkhovna Rada,» he said.

Lawyer Bohdan Yankiv also believes that VAT for individual entrepreneurs will not be introduced in 2026, because this requires: abolishing 1-2 groups or creating a VAT procedure for them; rewriting laws; approving new forms of reports and accounting; updating tax software; training accountants; preparing servers for millions of VAT invoices.

According to his forecasts, the realistic horizon for implementing changes is 2029-2031. That is when the memorandum will expire and the National Strategy deadline will come. The expert recalled that it provides for the unification of groups of individual entrepreneurs, a tax as a percentage of income, and the possible introduction of VAT.

«The IMF memorandum simply confirms the old trajectory, not creates a new one,» Yankiv notes.

Consequences: everything can become more expensive

In general, entrepreneurs who sell goods or provide services in Ukraine should understand that VAT is not paid by them, but by buyers. The VAT payer only administers it. Just as the personal income tax and the military, which are withheld from employees' salaries and paid to the budget, are administered. «If it is introduced for individual entrepreneurs, then we will all pay this VAT. Because individual entrepreneurs will simply add 20% VAT to the price of their goods or services. And all goods and services will simply become more expensive by 20%,» the consultant notes. Then this 20%, which will be paid by buyers and customers, will be transferred by individual entrepreneurs to the budget.

Zarayskyi assumes that it will not be 20%. «Because individual entrepreneurs with higher margins will be able to give up part of their profits and increase the price of goods/services not by 20%, but by less, in order to knock out competitors,» he argues.

Amelin’s forecast is pessimistic: «A third will register as VAT payers and raise prices — accelerating inflation. A quarter will close their businesses and go into employment — filling the labor market, which is already crowded. But the rest — 100,000−150,000 entrepreneurs — will choose the shadow.»

He predicts income fragmentation, P2P transfers, crypto, work through foreign jurisdictions. «Separately — emigration: 10,000−25,000 highly qualified specialists will simply leave. The UAE, Cyprus, Portugal are waiting. And this is not pessimism — it is arithmetic. In 2024, a record 210,000 sole proprietorships closed — even before all these initiatives. In the first four months of 2025 — 44% more than last year. The trend is already there. It remains to accelerate it,» he noted.

What do the AIT people say?

IT professionals are already excitedly discussing potential innovations.

Vladislav Chorny, Front-end Developer, predicts an outflow of IT professionals abroad: «I think that after the war, not many IT specialists will remain here. What’s the point of paying taxes like in a European country, and getting almost nothing out of it, and reading like another intelligence officer has left. I don’t mind paying taxes at the level of other countries, but on condition that our level of human security is no lower,» he says.

«There is always a moment when the tax burden becomes so heavy that business goes into the shadows and instead of additional budget funding, the state receives a decrease in revenues. It seems that this will be exactly that moment,» says Front-end Developer Anton Ryltsov .

Oleg Sorotsinsky, Project Manager, says that the FOP system has been a driver of the Ukrainian IT market for years. «Now it will be demolished, which will lead to a significant reduction in the tax base, a transition to other, less legal schemes. In fact, due to the impossibility of normal control of crushing, they decided to demolish the entire system. Although much less system losses pass through FOPs than through twists, VAT, loss on excise duties, not to mention the border…», he argues.

According to Yevgeny Chvertkov, IT consultant at ARTJOKER, VAT can be refunded, this is called a VAT refund. «The company will pay for the services of an individual entrepreneur, namely, it pays 20% more, so when certain conditions are met, this company can refund the VAT, which it will direct to other payments. That is, with competent management, the company loses practically nothing, and nothing changes for the customer, since practically all employees do not pay anything to anyone for any services from legal accounts. And many of my acquaintances are becoming more and more VAT payers specifically, there are advantages to this. Therefore, in fact, I do not see anything terrible for those who evade taxes at the expense of entrepreneurs. But if those like me who are real entrepreneurs, that is, work for themselves and have their own clients, the situation will of course be a little worse, but not a fact,» he explains.

Serhiy Lozytsky, QA Automation Lead predicts the following scheme: «There will be an option, give half a year’s salary to an individual entrepreneur, half a year — in the black, or half a year to parents, grandparents, friends. Gig contracts, companies abroad, crypto and a bunch of other ways to get around it all.» .

«When I worked in the Ukrainian IT industry, 1 million UAH per year is a completely realistic amount. That’s $2,000 per month. And here, most developers understand that this directly affects them. For now, it’s just an idea/proposal. In this context, taxes in the Czech Republic don’t look so scary: 15% basic rate and 23% for high incomes,» notes Senior Front-end engineer Oleksandr Kravchuk .

Meanwhile, for gig contractors, the changes will be imperceptible. «If you cooperate under a gig contract, then nothing will change for FOPs. In general, then you don’t need a FOP. This applies exclusively to the third group. But for business, the changes are significant,» notes Technical Recruiter Olena Rebezyuk .

Ukraine has agreed with the IMF on a new loan program. In return, the fund demands to expand the tax base: what new taxes will have to be paid

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Ukraine has agreed with the IMF on a new loan program. In return, the fund demands to expand the tax base: what new taxes will have to be paid

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