State Tax Service continues to record violations in sale of expensive equipment and electronics, including Apple equipment

State Tax Service continuously monitors and analyzes activities of business entities that conduct settlement operations upon product sale, including valuable Apple equipment, regarding their compliance with settlement procedure.

Tax audit units of the State Tax Service, based on results of almost 1500 audits on settlement procedure carried out in 2024, detected numerous violations of settlement procedure in places of the retail sale of high-value equipment, including "Apple" equipment, according to results of which territorial bodies of the State Tax Service additionally accrued fines (financial sanctions) totaling more than 460 million UAH.

In September of this year, territorial units of tax audit of the State Tax Service continued activation of tax control measures and conducted 286 actual audits of business entities involved in sale of equipment, including "Apple" equipment, as a result of which additional fines are expected to be charged to violators (financial sanctions) for the total amount of almost 100 million UAH.   

More than 95 percent of fines (financial sanctions) imposed by employees of the State Tax Service for violating requirements of settlement procedure (failure to issue relevant settlement documents, product sale that are not accounted for in the prescribed manner) may indicate entry of expensive equipment and electronics into the territory of Ukraine outside of customs control or with concealment from customs control of such equipment.

In addition, during actual audits of business entities involved in sale of equipment, including "Apple" equipment, almost 200 cases of using labor of persons without proper registration of labor relations were established in September 2024.

Also, employees of the State Tax Service detected that activity of selling expensive "Apple" equipment is carried out, as a rule, through individuals-entrepreneurs who are on the simplified taxation system.

Such individuals-entrepreneurs are registered, as a rule, to employees of trade networks with equipment upon request and by agreement with owners of such networks.

At the same time, to business entities, including individuals-entrepreneurs who carry out settlement operations for products (services), for violating requirements of the Law of Ukraine № 265/95-VR as of 06.07.1995 "On the use of registrars of settlement operations in trade, public catering and services" according to decision of relevant controlling authorities, fine (financial sanctions) are applied.

Therefore, in the final case, fines are applied by authorities of the State Tax Service to individuals-entrepreneurs, who are actually employees of trade networks of equipment and agreed to registration as individuals-entrepreneurs.

According to results of actual audits carried out, fines (financial sanctions) in the amount of millions were applied to employees of trade networks using technique of the State Tax Service, in some cases employees do not have information about significant fines (financial sanctions) additionally accrued to them.

State Tax Service draws attention of citizens who are encouraged by owners of retail networks to register as Such individuals-entrepreneurs, to the fact that in case of establishing violation during the implementation of economic activity, additional taxes, levies and fines (financial sanctions) are applied directly to individuals-entrepreneurs.