The government has once again approved and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill introducing value-added tax (VAT) on international postal shipments to Ukraine valued at up to 150 euros, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi announced on Telegram on Wednesday evening.
“We must create a level playing field for all market participants. This is a matter of supporting Ukrainian manufacturers and ensuring fair competition. We expect this decision to generate over 10 billion hryvnias in additional budget revenue each year,” he noted.
The prime minister emphasized that Ukrainian manufacturers and sellers pay VAT, while some imported goods enjoy tax breaks.
“It is unacceptable that Ukrainian manufacturers—for example, in the light industry—pay taxes, while citizens buy clothing on foreign marketplaces, and those same goods are not taxed at all. It is equally unacceptable that a number of unscrupulous players split up their shipments to evade paying taxes,” the head of government stated.
Koretsky also noted that the repeal of the current exemption will bring Ukrainian regulations into line with European Union legislation.
“Importantly, personal gifts valued at up to 45 euros that are sent free of charge will, as before, remain tax-exempt,” the prime minister added.
According to him, if lawmakers support this decision, the new rules will take effect in 2027, giving businesses, marketplaces, and delivery operators time to prepare.
Separately, Koretsky instructed the Ministry of Finance and all relevant agencies to thoroughly discuss this issue with lawmakers at the committee level and with representatives of all factions and groups, as well as to explain in detail to the public the provisions of the bill and the need for its adoption.
As previously reported, the Verkhovna Rada’s adoption of the bill to abolish the tax exemption for international parcels valued at up to 150 euros is a condition for Ukraine to receive the third tranche under the program with the International Monetary Fund in the amount of approximately 0. 7 billion, and the second tranche of macro-financial assistance from the
European Union in the amount of 3.7 billion euros as part of a 90 billion euro loan to support Ukraine.
In the updated Memorandum on Financial and Economic Policies under the IMF’s EFF program, Ukraine committed to adopting this law by the end of July as a new structural benchmark, whereas the original version required its approval by the end of March along with other tax regulations; however, that structural benchmark was not met.
The State Customs Service of Ukraine transferred UAH 420.1 billion in customs payments to the state budget in the first half of 2026, which is 31.9% more than in the same period last year, the Experts Club information and analytical center reports.
In January–June 2025, revenues amounted to UAH 318.5 billion. Thus, over the year, the budget received an additional approximately UAH 101.6 billion. The official data were published by the State Customs Service on July 13, 2026.
The Experts Club Analytical Center compared the State Customs Service’s data with the Ministry of Finance’s operational report on the execution of the state budget for January–June 2026.
Ranking of Customs Revenues by Main Categories
Value-added tax on goods imported into the customs territory of Ukraine remains the main source of customs revenues.
It accounted for approximately 75.7% of all payments transferred by the State Customs Service in the first half of the year. In other words, approximately three out of every four hryvnias of customs revenues were generated by import VAT.
The high share of VAT is explained by the fact that the tax is charged on virtually all taxable imports, including equipment, raw materials, fuel, cars, consumer goods and products intended for industrial use.
After deducting import VAT and customs duties from the total amount, approximately UAH 70.9 billion, or 16.9% of revenues, remains.
The main part of this amount should consist of excise duty on imported excisable goods, primarily petroleum products, cars, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.
However, in its operational report, the Ministry of Finance indicated only the total excise tax revenues from domestically produced and imported goods — UAH 152.4 billion. The separate amount of import excise duty was not disclosed in the report. Therefore, the figure of UAH 70.9 billion is an estimate and may also include small amounts of other payments administered by customs authorities.
Revenues from import and export duties in the first half of the year amounted to UAH 31 billion, or approximately 7.4% of the total volume of customs payments.
The share of customs duties is significantly lower than that of import VAT because zero or reduced rates apply to many goods under Ukraine’s free trade agreements. In addition, certain categories of equipment, energy products and defense-related goods benefit from tax and customs exemptions.
Structure of Ukraine’s Customs Revenues
Thus, the approximate structure of the UAH 420.1 billion is as follows:
VAT on imported goods — UAH 318.2 billion, or 75.7%.
Import excise duty and other payments — approximately UAH 70.9 billion, or 16.9%.
Import and export duties — UAH 31 billion, or 7.4%.
The Experts Club calculation shows that Ukrainian customs primarily performs the function of administering import VAT. Customs duties themselves account for less than one-tenth of the total volume of revenues.
Cars Accounted for More Than 7% of All Payments
Imports of passenger cars brought UAH 32.1 billion to the state budget in the first half of the year. This corresponds to approximately 7.6% of all revenues transferred by the State Customs Service.
At the same time, petrol-powered cars alone generated UAH 14.6 billion, or approximately 3.5% of all Ukraine’s customs revenues for the six-month period.
Thus, payments from passenger car imports exceeded the total revenues from import and export duties across all product categories.
Large Importers Accounted for 85% of Revenues
In the first half of the year, customs payments were made by 28,300 foreign economic activity participants. Their number increased by 2.5% compared with January–June 2025.
At the same time, only 2,350 companies, or approximately 8% of all payers, accounted for 85% of revenues. Their combined contribution can be estimated at approximately UAH 357 billion.
Another 10,600 enterprises, each of which transferred between UAH 1 million and UAH 20 million, generated UAH 53.5 billion.
Approximately 15,300 representatives of small and medium-sized businesses paid up to UAH 1 million each. Their combined contribution amounted to almost UAH 4.8 billion.
This indicates a high concentration of customs revenues: the majority of revenues depend on a relatively small group of large importers of fuel, cars, machinery, raw materials, pharmaceuticals and consumer products.
Customs Accounted for More Than One-Fifth of General Fund Revenues
In January–June 2026, UAH 1.898 trillion was received by the general fund of Ukraine’s state budget. Customs payments amounting to UAH 420.1 billion were equivalent to approximately 22.1% of this amount.
Including the general and special funds, state budget revenues for the first half of the year amounted to UAH 2.52 trillion.
The 31.9% growth in customs revenues significantly outpaced the increase in the number of payers, which amounted to only 2.5%. This indicates that the main growth factors were an increase in the value of taxable imports, changes in the exchange rate, an increased tax burden on certain categories and higher payments from the largest companies.
The most comprehensive official source of detailed information by budget classification codes is the state Open Budget portal. The State Customs Service publishes the total volume of payments and the structure of payers, while the Ministry of Finance publishes the main tax categories. At the time this material was prepared, a separate comprehensive table from the State Customs Service showing the distribution of the UAH 420.1 billion across all types of payments in a single document had not been published.
Gasoline-powered passenger cars accounted for over 14.6 billion hryvnia in customs revenue for the state budget from passenger car imports, which totaled 32.1 billion hryvnia, the State Customs Service reported on its website.
At the same time, diesel cars generated 8.4 billion UAH in revenue, hybrids—7.1 billion UAH, and electric cars—2 billion UAH.
The State Customs Service notes that, overall, from January through June, Ukrainians imported over 169,000 passenger cars with a total value of nearly 96.6 billion hryvnias, 70% of which were used cars, generating 17.7 billion hryvnias in customs duties for the state budget, while new cars accounted for 14.4 billion UAH.
Gasoline-powered cars, which remain the most popular, accounted for 54.5% of total imports. In second place were diesel cars (20.3%), which not only significantly outpaced electric cars (13%) but also surpassed hybrids (12.1%).
Hybrids were the most expensive among imported cars, with an average price of nearly $27,000 per vehicle; diesel cars averaged $16,000; electric cars, over $10,000; and gasoline-powered cars, $9,000.
According to the State Customs Service, cars have been imported from more than 50 countries since the beginning of 2026, but the undisputed leaders are: the United States—73,200 (43% of the total number of imports); Germany—17,300 (10%); and Poland—14,600 (9%).
In total, nearly 105,100 cars were imported from these countries, accounting for 62% of the total.
As previously reported, according to the State Customs Service, the volume of passenger car imports into Ukraine—including cargo-passenger vans and race cars (UKT ZED code 8703)— amounted to $2.18 billion in January–June 2026, which is 14.6% less than the figure for the first half of 2025 ($2.554 billion).
PJSC “Philip Morris Ukraine” and LLC “Philip Morris Sales and Distribution” paid a total of 31.7 billion UAH in taxes for January–June 2026, which is 10% higher than the figures for the same period last year, according to a company press release.
The bulk of the payments consisted of excise tax—24 billion UAH—and value-added tax (VAT)—7.1 billion UAH.
“In the first half of the year, we managed to increase the amount of taxes paid by 10%. This was made possible by an increase in excise tax rates on tobacco products, despite a decline in market volumes and the consequences of the missile attack on our factory and warehouses,” the press service quoted Serhiy Kalnoochenko, CFO of Philip Morris Ukraine, as saying.
According to Kalnoochenko, since the start of the full-scale invasion, the company has paid more than 212 billion hryvnias to the budget, which is one of the highest figures among businesses in Ukraine.
“This is a real contribution by our business to funding defense, social programs, and economic recovery. However, this amount could have been at least 25–28 billion hryvnias higher if the country had been able to overcome the problem of the illegal tobacco trade. Instead, the market for illegal cigarettes continues to grow every quarter,” Kalnoochenko emphasized.
According to estimates by Kantar Ukraine in April 2026, the volume of the illicit tobacco market has grown again and now stands at 19.8%. With such market volumes, annual losses to the state budget due to unpaid taxes are estimated at a record 33.3 billion hryvnias, the statement noted.
Philip Morris Ukraine PJSC has been operating in the Ukrainian market since 1994 and is one of the largest taxpayers. In 2024, the company opened a new factory in the Lviv region, investing $30 million and creating 250 jobs. Last year, the company invested $5 million in promoting its “ZYN” nicotine pouch brand in Ukraine; this year, it plans to invest another $10 million in developing the nicotine pouch category and launching a new product line under the brand.
In late January 2026, part of the company’s Kharkiv factory was damaged in a nighttime missile strike; operations at the facility have been suspended since February 24, 2022. The company’s preliminary estimate of the damages is $16 million.
On the night of July 8, the company lost its finished goods warehouse in Kyiv due to Russian shelling.
The company also provides humanitarian aid to communities in the Kharkiv, Lviv, and Kyiv regions, and collaborates with the rehabilitation funds Superhumans, U+System, and UNBROKEN. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, projects totaling 431 million hryvnias have been implemented.
Ukraine has received $3.35 billion as part of the First Labor Market Development and Private Sector Growth Program, implemented jointly with the World Bank; the funds have already been transferred to the state budget and will be used to support macrofinancial stability and finance priority expenditures under martial law, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced.
According to her, the funds were the result of agreements signed by Ukraine and the World Bank on June 24 as part of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026).
“This funding was made possible by a large-scale reform package. To fulfill the program’s conditions, the government and the Verkhovna Rada adopted 13 laws and 7 subordinate regulatory acts,” Svyrydenko stated in a post published on Facebook.
The reforms covered a number of areas, including improving the public procurement system, developing factoring, integrating energy markets with the European Union, transforming the agricultural sector, supporting veteran entrepreneurship, developing housing policy, modernizing preschool and vocational education, and restoring the system for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions.
“The next phase of the program provides for the allocation of an additional $1 billion by the end of 2026, subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions,” the prime minister noted.
She also reported that part of the funding under the program is backed by guarantees from the governments of the United Kingdom and Japan.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18v8tuSZnE/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Taxpayers in Ukraine paid 73.5 million hryvnias in parking fees to local budgets from January to April 2026, which is 12.3% more than during the same period last year, according to a report on the State Tax Service (STS) website on Thursday.
According to the report, this amount totaled 65.5 million UAH during the first four months of last year.
The agency noted that the leaders in terms of parking fee payments were Odesa Oblast—27.1 million UAH, Lviv Oblast—19.5 million UAH, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast—16.7 million UAH, and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast—3.8 million UAH.
Tax officials attribute the positive trend to increased legal awareness among business owners, wider adoption of cashless payments, and effective oversight by the State Tax Service, which has ensured transparency in this sector. Funds from this fee remain entirely at the disposal of local communities to finance urban improvements and enhance road infrastructure.
The State Tax Service noted that the payers of the parking space fee are legal entities, their branches, and individual entrepreneurs who operate parking lots, while drivers do not pay this fee. The tax base is the area of the land plot allocated for parking by a local council decision, or the area of municipal garages and parking lots built using local budget funds. The tax rates are set by local authorities at up to 0.075% of the minimum wage per 1 sq. m of land area, which in 2026 amounts to up to 6.49 UAH per 1 sq. m.
