DISPUTE DECISION MESSAGE OF DECISION, STEPS AND JURISDICTION

 Based on the results of the tax audit, a decision on the application of the taxpayer's liability due to the detected violations of the law may be made by a governmental authority, on which the business entity receives the Tax notification-decision.

  The SCU provides for administrative, or pre-trial, and judicial procedures for resolving disputes between the taxpayer and the GFS.

Step 1. Analysis of violations in the Verification Act

 The statutory requirements for the Act are established by Order No. 727

(https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z1300-15), so the business entity needs to check whether it has the qualification of the detected offenses in accordance with the specific articles and rules of the current legislation; what changes were made to the financial result, accounting, tax reporting as a result of violations committed; a list of documents that were not submitted for verification or an indication of missing primary documents that could confirm the taxpayer's calculations; the list of documents and their copies received from the taxpayer and the reason for such request. As a rule, all these aspects are not properly reflected by the fiscal, and conclusions are drawn from the assumptions of officials.

 The case law has developed the position that the Act is not a legal or binding document and is not subject to appeal. For this reason, such violations should be reflected in the objections and objections to the Act, which are submitted within 5 days to the tax authority that conducted the audit. The payer has the right to participate directly in the consideration of objections, and by the way, this right is often neglected, to the detriment of himself. In addition, a Business Ombudsman Council was created in 2014, which can be addressed online and receive advice and even physical support during the review. If the arguments provided by the taxpayer did not produce the desired results, the PDR shall be adopted by the notified body on the basis of the Act.

 Filing objections or objections is not yet considered an appeal against the audit, but these safeguards for the entity will be important in the subsequent stages of the tax audit appeal.

Step 2. Administrative appeal

  The appeal is made by appealing to the fiscal authority of the highest level with the complaint about the review of the illegal decision. Important in this respect is the observance of the hierarchy of authorities, since a wrongfully directed complaint to a subject of inadequate level is not subject to review.

 GCU has set deadlines for complaint:

-10 days from the date of receipt of the contested decision by the payer;

-30 days from the date of receipt of the CPD, if the government determines the monetary obligation on grounds not related to violation of tax law.

  Also, for valid reasons, this period may be extended, for the reasons provided (clause 102.6 of the CCU) and confirmed by document, only at the written request of the taxpayer.

  The term of consideration of the complaint is set to 20 days, but it can be increased to 60 at the decision of the head of the DFS body, as notified by the taxpayer. During this period, tax compliance will be suspended until the day the administrative complaint ends. If no decision has been sent by the supervisory authority within the set time limits (neither to annul the decision nor to stay it in force), the complaint is considered to be fully satisfied (paragraph 56.9 of the CCU). However, if the entity has not received a decision, there is still no 100% guarantee of successful appeal. In the future, it may be that the tax considers the monetary liability agreed, but the taxpayer has not received a decision, so in the process of appeal "automatic decision" is proved only by the lack of tax evidence of mailing to the specified payer in the complaint address or its delivery.

Step 3. Trial

 Disputes concerning the appeal of the decisions made by the DFS body shall be considered in the administrative procedure. When filing a lawsuit and before a court decision enters into force, the tax liability is considered inconsistent.