The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved and sent to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law that changes the rules for taxation of goods purchased on foreign marketplaces. The document provides for the abolition of the VAT exemption for international postal items worth up to 150 euros.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved and sent to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law that changes the rules for taxation of goods purchased on foreign marketplaces. The document provides for the abolition of the VAT exemption for international postal items worth up to 150 euros.
This was announced by Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky.
According to the text of the bill, all goods from foreign sites will be subject to VAT regardless of their value. At the same time, the preferential regime will be preserved for private free gifts if their value does not exceed 45 euros.
The main goal of the changes is to adapt Ukrainian legislation to the norms of the European Union and create equal conditions for domestic and foreign businesses. «We must create equal conditions for all market participants. This is a matter of supporting Ukrainian producers and fair competition,» Koretsky noted.
According to preliminary calculations, the abolition of the benefit will provide over UAH 10 billion in additional revenues to the state budget each year. The funds received are planned to be used to finance defense, state stability, and economic development.
The new rules will not come into force immediately: if supported by the parliament, they will not come into force before 2027. This will give logistics operators, marketplaces, and businesses time to adapt. The Ministry of Finance has already been instructed to work out the details of the draft law with the relevant committees of the Verkhovna Rada and to clarify the norms to the public.
Currently, Ukraine has a rule that exempts international postal items worth up to 150 euros from VAT and customs duties. On May 26, the Verkhovna Rada failed to approve the preliminary version of the initiative: only 222 deputies voted to send the bill for a second reading, and all 11 amendments also failed to gain the required number of votes.
Because of this, further consideration became impossible, and the Cabinet of Ministers had to develop a new document. The introduction of VAT on parcels worth up to 150 euros is part of Ukraine’s obligations to the EU and the benchmark of the IMF financing program, which the country was supposed to fulfill by the end of March.
At the same time, business criticizes such steps. In particular, Volodymyr Popereshnyuk, co-owner of the NOVA group of companies (Nova Poshta), noted that taxes on international shipments worth up to 150 euros could cause more damage than bring in revenue, calling the initiative economically unjustified and harmful to the well-being of Ukrainians.
