The Bureau of Economic Security (BES) has not clarified the specific operational details of its interaction mechanism with businesses that have evaded taxes but are willing to voluntarily rectify their violations. This new approach had been previously announced multiple times by BES Director Oleksandr Tsivinskyi.
ВІДЕО ДНЯ
This information is reported by ThePublic, citing a letter from the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine.
Journalists note that the agency failed to explain the criteria for selecting companies for such “compromises,” the legal basis for this method, and the principles guiding the BES in exempting violators from criminal liability.
In response to the inquiry, the bureau stated that such information requires creation and additional processing, as it involves analytical processing, generalization of the bureau’s practical application of tools, identification of criteria and approaches, assessment of operational effectiveness, and the formulation of explanations and conclusions.
РЕКЛАМА
Meanwhile, BES Director Oleksandr Tsivinskyi has repeatedly spoken about the BES’s new strategy for engaging with tax-evading businesses. According to him, the agency has shifted from addressing the consequences to tackling the root causes of such violations, with a developed algorithm and even successful case studies of its implementation.
Subsequently, the BES publicly stated that as a result of this work, certain companies are transitioning to the general taxation system and abandoning tax minimization schemes.
In turn, Members of Parliament consider this approach to be risky from a corruption perspective.
РЕКЛАМА
“Agreements can only be made within the framework of a plea agreement with the investigation. Any other arrangements border on corruption,” believes MP Maksym Buzhanskyi.
Despite this, the BES utilizes the theme of “compromises” with businesses in its public communications, although there is no legally established procedure for applying this approach. Notably, the publication “Ekonomichna Pravda” previously reported that the BES had sent submissions to company representatives regarding the elimination of causes and conditions. Journalists pointed out that this refers to a tool that began to be used under the new leadership of the bureau: in these documents, BES analysts describe tax minimization schemes used by businesses, including those that are not the subject of criminal proceedings. After receiving these submissions, companies entered into compromises with the BES.
However, neither the law on the Bureau of Economic Security nor the Criminal Procedure Code mentions such submissions, and the BES itself could not provide copies of documents regulating their application, stating that the information holder must only provide existing data.
We recall that companies allegedly transitioned to a legal framework with the assistance of the BES include “Yakko” and “MarketOpt.” However, less than a month after reports of cooperation with the bureau and changes in their business model, journalists exposed “MarketOpt” for tax evasion. Head of the Rada’s Tax Committee Danylo Hetmantsev previously warned of similar risks, noting that public statements are insufficient to overcome grey schemes.
РЕКЛАМА
As previously reported by the media, despite the growth of the illegal market for Chinese counterfeit goods, the BES has not announced any suspicions of goods smuggling in 5 months.
Photo esbu.gov.ua