OVERVIEW OF THE PRACTICE OF APPEALING THE TAX NOTIFICATION-DECISION FOR THE PERIOD FROM 01.03-01.06 2020

 With the introduction of quarantine restrictions in Ukraine, the Government has made a number of changes related to tax legislation. To begin with, it should be reminded that tax notices-decisions are written notifications of the taxpayer by the inspection body of the State Tax Service about the payment of a certain amount of monetary obligation.

 If the taxpayer does not agree with such notification-decision, he has the right to appeal it administratively and / or in court. This rule is provided for in paragraph 56.1 of Art. 56 TCU.

 Such a decision may be appealed in court within 1095 days of its receipt.

 Many taxpayers challenge such notices in court. But how has the situation changed since the beginning of the quarantine, whether such reports continue to be challenged, and what is the position of the court.

 Thus, from March 1, 2020 to June 1, 2020, the Unified Register of Judgments states that during this period the courts issued 3,584 decisions, there are also 5 Legal Positions of the Supreme Court of Ukraine on such an appeal.

 Interesting Legal position of the Civil Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court in case № 826 / 17123/18 of March 6, 2020 on the appeal of the order after the taxpayer allowed the control body to conduct the inspection.

 The Supreme Court notes that if the inspection by the inspection body was carried out on the basis of an inspection order and such an inspection has already taken place, an appeal against this order is not an appropriate way to protect the violated rights.

 This means that if the inspection has not yet taken place, but there is already an order to conduct it, it can be appealed as an act of individual action. But if the taxpayer allowed officials of the control body to conduct such an audit, and the results of which issued a tax notice-decision, then in this case the appropriate way to protect the violated rights will be to appeal the tax notice of the decision. A similar position was expressed by the Supreme Court of Ukraine as a member of the Judicial Chamber for Taxes, Fees and Other Mandatory Payments of the Administrative Court of Cassation in case № 826/17123/18 of 21.02. 2020.

 From the above we can conclude that in order to appeal the tax notice-decision it is necessary to choose the right method of protection. If the inspection body issues a written notification-decision based on the results of the inspection, it is necessary to appeal against it, and not the document on the basis of which this inspection was conducted. That is, the notification-decision can be appealed on the grounds of violation of the appointment procedure and inspection. If the taxpayer believes that the procedure was conducted during the audit, it may be grounds for applying to the court to appeal the tax notice-decision.

 Thus, analyzing the case law for the period from March to June 2020, it can be noted that the courts have not made a large number of court decisions. This may be due to the ban on inspections during the quarantine period, as well as the restriction of the work of some courts at this time. After all, the cases that were considered were filed mostly earlier.