Do refugees in the EU have to pay taxes in Ukraine: explanation of the State Tax Service
22 December 2025 10:12
Ukrainian refugees abroad have to declare their income earned in other countries. But if they pay taxes there, they do not have to do so in Ukraine.
This was stated in an interview with RBC-Ukraine by acting head of the State Tax Service Lesya Karnaukh, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
“When submitting a declaration, for example, they provide us with information that they were residents of that country at that time, they paid taxes there in that amount, and that’s it. And if they still have income that is not taxed, then only the part that was not taxed by another jurisdiction is subject to taxation under Ukrainian law,” explained the head of the Tax Service.
According to her, the system of exchange of financial information on CRS accounts is designed to ensure that tax authorities of two or three jurisdictions exchange information with each other and ensure fairness of approach to all taxpayers around the world, regardless of where they are located.
“Ukraine is ready to exchange information with 121 countries under this agreement,” she added.
The exchange of such information can be carried out exclusively for tax purposes, Karnaukh noted. The tax authorities cannot share information about Ukrainians for the purpose of criminal prosecution.
“We have the full right to refuse to provide information about the income of our citizens if we see that it is used for purposes other than those defined by the convention, namely not for tax purposes,” Karnaukh said.
Refugees in Europe
According to the European Commission, in January 2025, the number of recipients of temporary protection in the EU amounted to about 4.3 million people.
Poland and Germany hosted the largest number of refugees from Ukraine – more than 985 thousand and 1.1 million people, respectively.
Earlier, Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, said that only residents of Ukraine should file tax returns. In view of this, Ukrainian refugees have to file declarations, and they were exempted from paying taxes for assistance from a foreign state.
