The Law of Ukraine as of November 23, 2018 №. 2628-VIII “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and some other legislative acts of Ukraine regarding the improved administration and review of individual taxes and fees” has amended the Tax Code of Ukraine (hereinafter - the Code) and the Law of Ukraine as of December 19, 1995 №. 481/95-VR “On the state regulation of production and turnover of ethyl alcohol, cognac and fruit alcohol, alcohol beverages, tobacco and fuel” (hereinafter – the Law №. 481) in particular, the licensing of economic activity on the production, storage, wholesale and retail trade of fuel has been introduced.
According to Article 1 of the Law №. 481 the fuel storage place is defined as a location (territory) with located facilities and / or equipment and / or tanks that are used for the fuel storage on the basis of the ownership or use. Fuel storage – is an activity on the storage of fuel (own or received from other individuals) with or without change of its physicochemical characteristics.
Procedure for issuance, suspension, revocation of licenses on the right of fuel storage is stipulated by Article 15 of the Law №. 481. In particular, it stipulates that the fuel storage is carried out by the entities in all forms of ownership under the license. Business entities receive licenses on the fuel storage at each particular fuel storage location.
Licenses on the right for the fuel storage or refusal decision is issued to the applicant not later than 20 calendar days from the date of receipt of the documents specified in Law №. 481 Business entities can file documents on the right for the fuel storage at the location of the fuel storage places to the Head offices of the State Fiscal Service in the regions and Kyiv city.
The Law №. 481 prescribes an annual fee for licenses on the fuel storage in the amount of 780 UAH.
In order to obtain the right for the fuel storage along with the application, certified by the applicant copies of the following documents must be submitted, namely:
documents that confirm the ownership or the right on the usage of the land plot, or other right envisaged by the legislation regarding the land use on the land plot where the wholesaler or retailer of fuel or the fuel storage is located, valid on the date of application and / or on the date of commissioning of such facility of any purpose;
act of commissioning the object or the act of readiness of the object for operation, or a certificate of acceptance regarding the completion of construction works, or other documents that confirm the acceptance of objects according to legislation, for all objects in the place of the wholesale or retail trade of fuel or the fuel storage required for the wholesale trade of fuel or the fuel storage;
permission for the commencement of works of high risk and the beginning of operation (use) of machines, mechanisms, equipment of the high risk.
Copies of such documents shall not be submitted in the case of their presence in the open state registers, if the details of such documents and the names of the respective registers are specified in the application on the license for the wholesale trade of fuel or the fuel storage.
The applicant is responsible for the accuracy of the information in the documents submitted with the application.
If the specified documents have been issued (registered) to an individual other than the applicant, the applicant shall additionally submit documents confirming his right to use the relevant object.
Temporarily, until January 1, 2022 all business entities can obtain a license on the right to produce fuel, right on the wholesale or retail trade of fuel, or the right on the fuel storage at the appropriate place of such activity without submitting the act of commissioning the object or the act of readiness of the object for operation, or a certificate of acceptance regarding the completion of construction works, or other documents that confirm the acceptance of objects according to legislation regarding the objects required for carrying out the respective activity, provided that copies of documents confirming the ownership of such real estate objects, issued according to the procedure stipulated by legislation as of January 1, 2014.
According to Article 15 of the Law №. 481 licenses on the right for the fuel storage are not used for the fuel storage used by:
enterprises, institutions and organizations that are fully maintained at the expense of the state or local budget;
enterprises, institutions and organizations of the state reserve system;
business entities for the fuel storage consumed for their own production and technological needs exclusively at oil and gas fields, drilling platforms and which are not sold through retail outlets.
Business entity has the right for the fuel storage without obtaining the relevant license on the right for the fuel storage at the fuel production places, the fuel retail or wholesale trade locations for which licenses have been obtained.
That is, in the case if business entities carry out all forms of ownership of the activity on the fuel storage (own or received from other individuals) with or without alteration of its physicochemical characteristics in the location (territory) where the facilities and / or equipment are located, and / or tanks used for the fuel storage of ownership or use – such business entities will need to obtain the license on the right for the fuel storage, except for the cases prescribed by the Law №. 481 for cases when such license is not obtained.
Financial penalties in the form of fines prescribed by Article 17 of the Law №. 481 are not applied in the case of the fuel storage until December 31, 2019 without the appropriate license.
Fuel storage in the fuel tanks of vehicles / technical equipment / devices does not require the license for the fuel storage, since these reservoirs are not real property and do not have a clear attachment to the location (territory) according to the Law №. 481 .