Fake checks and "shadow" sales: State Tax Service exposed scheme in the household appliances network

Press service of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, published 31 March 2026 at 17:45 Chapter: News

State Tax Service has detected numerous cases of manipulation with settlement documents in one large retail chain of household appliances and electronics. The chain unites almost 150 stores.

Tax officials have established that dozens of individuals-entrepreneurs operate under the single brand of network on a simplified taxation system. At the same time, some of payments were made outside the official accounting system.

In March, specialists of the State Tax Service conducted series of control purchases. As a result, it turned out that buyers received issued checks from software registrars of settlement transactions, which only imitated fiscal documents. Such transactions were not recorded on the State Tax Service’s fiscal server, which indicates that the real sales volumes were being concealed.

In addition, during actual audits, more than 20 cases of use of the counterfeit checks created using special software were recorded.

Violations of labor legislation were also identified – six employees worked without proper registration.

Audits are currently ongoing. According to preliminary estimates, amount of fines may reach about 3 million UAH.

According to the audit results, all materials will also be transferred to the law enforcement agencies.