QUARANTINE IS NOT FINISHED YET. WHAT ENTREPRENEURS SHOULD KNOW?

 In accordance with the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, quarantine on the territory of Ukraine was supposed to end on June 22, 2020. And this would mean that for business entities and entrepreneurs, benefits and tax breaks should also be completed. But the Government extended the quarantine until July 31, 2020. So it’s worth remembering what kind of exemptions apply to tax payers for a while.

 Given that the quarantine has been extended until July 31, only from the beginning of August will taxpayers fulfill their obligations in the normal amount.

 In particular, this applies to the payment of VAT, including the import or supply of medical goods. The list of these products was approved by Cabinet of Ministers Decree of March 23, 2020 № 224.

 During the quarantine, VAT on preferential deliveries will not be charged, that is, a tax credit will be saved.

 As for customs privileges for goods related to counteracting coronavirus, such privileges end on June 30, 2020. This date is clearly indicated, which means that customs payments will have to be paid as early as July 1, 2020, because the privilege applies to them only by a specific date, not until the end of quarantine.

 On sanctions, taxpayers are exempted from them from March to the last month in which quarantine will operate, which means that until the end of July 2020.

 But from exemption from sanctions are not subject:

• Violation of the requirement under a long-term life insurance contract and a non-state pension insurance contract;
• Alienation of property without the consent of the supervisory authority, if this property is under a tax lien;
• Violation of legal requirements, namely:
• Accounting, production, transportation and storage of ethyl alcohol and tobacco products;
• Intended Use of Ethyl Alcohol by a Taxpayer;
• Excise warehouse equipment with flow meters;
• The performance of functions defined by law in the production of alcohol, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products;
• If a business entity carries out the sale of alcohol without registration as an excise tax payer;
• Violations in the field of accrual, payment and declaration of VAT, rent and excise tax;
• As for administrative sanctions, that is, administrative fines, they are not subject to release.

 The ban on inspections continues until the end of quarantine. But it does not apply to desk and VAT refunds in the amount of more than 100,000 hryvnias.

 Also, it does not apply to violations of the law, namely:

• violations of accounting and licensing, production, transportation and storage of alcohol and tobacco products;
• violations of the targeted use of alcohol by taxpayers;
• excise warehouse equipment with flow meters;
• violation of the functions defined by law in the field of production of alcohol, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.

 If the check was started before quarantine began, then its continuation should take place immediately after its completion, that is, after July 31, 2020.

 The tax authorities are obliged to update the schedule of inspections within ten days after the end of the quarantine.

 Until the end of July, the planned activities of state control in the sphere of economic activity were stopped. That is, these are scheduled inspections covered by Law № 877.

But this prohibition does not apply to:

• Business entities classified as those that carry out their activities with a high degree of risk, in accordance with the risk assessment criteria approved by the CMU.
• The scope of regulation of state prices.
• The scope of sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population.
• Statutes of limitations are restored from 1.08. 2020 - from the first month following the end of quarantine, in accordance with Art. 102 GCC.

Dates that were stopped during quarantine also last from August 2020, in particular:

• administrative appeal procedures for complaints of taxpayers that were not considered as of March 18, 2020 and those that arrived before 31. 07.2020;
• provision by controllers of INC in writing;
• providing taxpayers with answers to requests from regulatory authorities that they received on July 31, 2020.

 Therefore, when calculating the statute of limitations, the quarantine time should be taken into account, this also applies to business contracts.

 Sanctions for offenses committed before 07/31/2020 do not apply, namely:

• untimely payment of single social contribution;
• will not pay advance payments;
• untimely reporting on single social contribution;

 Penalties for single social contribution payers may be charged again after the end of the quarantine, that is, after July 31, 2020.

 It is important that the ban on imposing administrative fines during the quarantine period does not apply, therefore, they can be applied to business entities.