Serhii Lyseiuk: New approaches to tax audits – focus on the analysis of risky transactions

Press service of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, published 07 November 2025 at 16:28 Chapter: News

State Tax Service of Ukraine is actively improving tax audit system, focusing on quality and efficiency rather than on the mere formal implementation of the Tax Code provisions. The main principle is: minimum interference – maximum transparency, professionalism and partnership with business. This was stated by Deputy Head of the State Tax Service Serhii Lyseiuk during the TAX & BUSINESS TALKS – A2B FORUM, organized by the Ukrainian Bar Association.

According to him, according to the July Presidential Decree, which approved Decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to change approaches to control, the State Tax Service has reformatted its work, actively applying risk-based approach selecting taxpayers for audits.

“We focused on entities with a high risk of tax law violations. Mechanisms for identifying and assessing tax risks have been improved to determine feasibility of audits. As a result, number of actual audits in October of this year compared to July decreased by 30%, and unscheduled documentary audits decreased by 15%” – said Serhii Lyseiuk.

Such approach allows the Tax Service to use resources more rationally and not to distract business from its main activities, which are focused on development and tax payment.

Deputy Head of the State Tax Service also emphasized that the tax audit reform is part of a broader strategy aimed at strengthening trust between the Tax Service and business.

“We have already started talking about culture, about trust and about movement of the Tax Service towards its strengthening. Open dialogue is where changes begin. We are not just changing tools – we are changing the approach. Our goal is to make the Tax Service understandable, effective and trusted” – emphasized Deputy Head of the State Tax Service.

One of the steps towards openness was signing of a Memorandum of cooperation with the Fiscal Policy Research Center in March – July. Partnership resulted in a launch of tax revenue monitoring dashboard, which officially went live at the end of September.

This tool allows to track implementation of plans approved by the Ministry of Finance, analyze tax revenues dynamics and effectiveness of the tax policy.

“Dashboard is transparency in action. The state receives a control tool, and society has clear access to data on budget filling” – said Serhii Lyseiuk.

He also outlined that since September, the State Tax Service has opened Tax Consultant Offices in 20 regions, where more than 16 thousand consultations have already been provided, and the taxpayer satisfaction level is 97%.

“Business wants to communicate more – and we are open to this. Offices employ 1.5 thousand specialists who provide consultations on tax payment, transfer pricing, Electronic cabinet, licensing and tax reporting” – said Deputy Head of the State Tax Service.

It is also important to implement the electronic audit system (e-audit) – a key tool for digital transformation of the tax control. As of today, 38 taxpayers are participating in testing, 692 SAF-T files have already been submitted.

“E-audit is not just innovation, it is a new level of analytics. We are gradually moving away from manual processing of information and focusing on the analysis of risky operations” – Serhii Lyseiuk explained.

For the taxpayers’ convenience, a banner with information about the e-audit system has been created on the State Tax Service’s web portal and platform in Google Chat for communication with developers.

Event participants also discussed mechanisms of the interdepartmental interaction, in particular, between the State Tax Service, Bureau of Economic Security and State Customs Service. It was noted that effectiveness of timely information exchange is important factor in effectiveness of measures to un-shadow economy and combat economic and financial crimes.