“IMF Day” in Parliament: Zheleznyak announced three bills for 12 May
This was announced by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak. Details regarding the content of the draft laws were also published by the Verkhovna Rada and the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.
MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak stated that 12 May could become “IMF Day” in the Verkhovna Rada.
According to him, three draft laws have been tabled for consideration: No. 15111-d on the taxation of digital platforms in its second reading, No. 15112 on the abolition of tax exemptions for parcels, and No. 12360 on amendments to the Customs Code on the same subject.
Zheleznyak also noted that, as far as he was aware, votes on these documents had not yet been taken.
“Well, as I wrote, 12 May will be IMF day,” the MP wrote.
What the digital platforms bill changes
Draft law No. 15111-d concerns income that citizens receive through digital platforms. On the Verkhovna Rada website, it is titled the draft law on amendments to the Tax Code and other acts regarding the international automatic exchange of information on income received through digital platforms and its taxation.
The Rada’s Finance Committee supported this document at its second reading. According to Ukrinform, 17 MPs voted in favour of the decision, with a further four abstaining. The bill is expected to be brought before the plenary session on 12 May.
If the bill is passed, the changes are set to come into effect on 1 January 2027.
The essence is that digital platforms will become tax agents and report users’ income. For citizens, the proposal is not the standard 18% personal income tax rate plus the military levy, but 5% plus the military levy.
If the amount received by a seller or service provider via the platform does not exceed the equivalent of €2,000 per year at the official NBU exchange rate, such income will not be taxed at all. This is intended to apply, in particular, to people who sell second-hand items and do not, in fact, carry out regular commercial activities via digital platforms.
The expected fiscal impact of this initiative is around 14 billion hryvnias annually. The draft law is linked to agreements with the IMF regarding the formalisation of income received via digital applications.
What will happen to parcels
The second section concerns international parcels.
On 6 May, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy recommended that parliament adopt, in principle and in its entirety, the revised draft law No. 15112-d on VAT taxation of e-commerce transactions. The committee also recommended adopting draft law No. 12360 on customs procedures for parcels at second reading.
The Ministry of Finance explains that these two documents are interlinked and together form the legal basis for new rules on the distance selling of goods.
The main change is that VAT on imported goods purchased via electronic interfaces is to be applied from €0. Previously, goods worth up to €150 were not subject to VAT.
It is not the buyer who must pay VAT upon receipt of the parcel. The obligation to calculate and pay the tax will fall on the marketplace or electronic interface. If the marketplace is a non-resident, it must appoint a representative in Ukraine responsible for settlements with the budget.
VAT at a rate of 20% must be automatically included in the price of the goods on the platform. According to the Ministry of Finance, the process of receiving a parcel will remain unchanged for the buyer.
The new rules on distance selling will not apply to alcohol and tobacco.
At the same time, non-commercial ‘person-to-person’ parcels worth up to €45 will not be taxed, provided they do not contain goods prohibited for shipment.
Why are amendments to the Customs Code needed?
Draft Law No. 12360 is intended to provide the technical framework for the new system.
According to the Ministry of Finance, it has been supplemented with rules on the accounting of marketplaces, conditions for providing financial guarantees equivalent to €100,000, and rules on declaration.
A transition period is also provided for: during the first year of the system’s operation, administrative liability will not apply for unintentional errors in VAT payments.
The document is intended to introduce modern mechanisms for declaring international shipments, data exchange between marketplaces, carriers and customs, as well as to adapt customs procedures to the new taxation rules.
The IMF and the budgetary impact
The Ministry of Finance notes that the adoption of the draft laws on parcels is a key milestone of the Memorandum with the IMF dated 13 February 2026. The expected effect of this reform is approximately UAH 10 billion annually for the needs of the security and defence sector.
The new rules are set to come into force no earlier than 1 January 2027 – following a separate government decision on the readiness of the IT infrastructure of customs authorities and marketplaces, and the preparation of the necessary subordinate legislation.
According to the Ministry of Finance, in 2025 over 56% of international shipments were not taxed. This amounted to UAH 92.9 billion worth of goods outside the fiscal register. The ministry estimates direct losses to the state budget for 2025 at a minimum of 18.6 billion UAH, and total losses since the start of the full-scale invasion at over 43 billion UAH.
If the current trend continues, the state budget could lose a further 27 billion UAH in 2026.
As reported by ThePublic, Ukraine needs to pass a law introducing VAT on low-cost parcels from abroad to ensure it remains on track with its $8.1 billion cooperation programme with the International Monetary Fund. A review of the programme is scheduled for June, and the issue of parcel taxation has become one of the key points in the negotiations.
Follow us on Telegram
