Since January 1 of this year, 135 subjects of entrepreneurial activity in Lviv Oblast have received VAT refunds in the amount of over UAH 1.5 million each. The total amount of reimbursed VAT for these enterprises is more than 1 billion 165 million UAH. Of them, 13 enterprises do not officially have a single employee.
Andrii Godyk, the first deputy head of Lviv OVA, told about this today, July 29, during the briefing on the results of the interdepartmental meeting.
Appeals from business entities for VAT refunds were received both last year and continue during the period of martial law. In March, a decision was made to amend the legislation, which suspended VAT refunds for the period of martial law. However, this process was resumed in April, which is positive for economic entities engaged in foreign economic activity. However, if this mechanism works transparently.
As Andriy Godyk said, business entities have repeatedly appealed to the Lviv OVA regarding the unclear and non-transparent mechanism of activity of the Main Directorate of the DPS in the Lviv region in terms of making a decision on the reimbursement of VAT to one or another business entity. Therefore, the Lviv OVA addressed a corresponding request to the DPS.
“It is not clear why the Main Directorate of the DPS in the Lviv Region did not provide the information we requested, which demonstrated a rather destructive position. Upon repeated request, we did not receive any information. However, we analyzed what we could and, unfortunately, came to disappointing conclusions,” said Andriy Godyk.
Thus, according to the conducted analysis, among the enterprises that were reimbursed more than UAH 1.5 million of VAT, there are 135 business entities with a total amount of VAT reimbursed of UAH 1 billion 165 million. There are 13 enterprises in this list that do not have any employees.
“These 13 enterprises were reimbursed 129 million UAH, and the amount of taxes paid by them is 20 million UAH, which is 6 times less than what they received from the budget. It is important to pay attention to the fact that among these enterprises, which have “0” employees, but receive budget reimbursements, only a few show the actual payment of taxes to the budget. In particular, there is a decision on one of the enterprises regarding VAT reimbursement in the amount of UAH 40 million, where they have paid only UAH 26,000 to the budgets of all levels since the beginning of the year. It is not clear who signed the contracts, how the negative value of VAT was formed,” added the profile deputy head of the Lviv OVA.
38 enterprises with 1 to 5 employees received compensation in the amount of almost UAH 265 million, the amount of taxes paid was almost UAH 33 million, including 10 enterprises with an average salary of less than UAH 6,500.
In addition, 30 newly created enterprises, the period of activity of which is less than 12 months, received a refund of VAT in the amount of more than UAH 242 million, paid taxes in the amount of UAH 7.3 million, of which 16 enterprises have employed 0 or 1 employee, 9 enterprises have employed from 2 to 5 employees.
“It is surprising when the real sector of the economy, including agricultural entities, is standing in line to receive budget compensation, and enterprises that were registered at the end of last year show such “effective” indicators and, as a result, receive budgetary compensation as a priority compensation, even during the period of martial law,” Andriy Godyk noted.
The Lviv OVA will contact the appropriate authorities with an appeal regarding the improper work of the DPS Department in the Lviv region for VAT reimbursement.
“We understand that we cannot make a final conclusion that there are signs of scheme coverage, we say that there is an issue that requires additional justification, verification and confirmation. Since we do not see understanding and effective work from the Main Department of the DPS in the Lviv region, we will contact the DPS of Ukraine and the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, and if necessary, law enforcement agencies. I emphasize that Lviv region is not a place for schemes, conversion centers. In addition, during the period of martial law, it cannot be a tool to cover any frauds”, – emphasized the first deputy head of the Lviv OVA.