Error-free tax returns with the help of lawyers: how officials report their assets
2 April 14:23
Ukrainian officials are increasingly taking a professional approach to filing their declarations—enlisting lawyers, financial experts, and even entire teams of specialists. The reason is the complexity of the system and the high cost of a mistake, which could result in criminal liability. Anti-corruption law expert Andriy Mazalov made this statement in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
“If we compare the situation five years ago with today, then yes, people are indeed beginning to understand that they need professional help when filling out their declarations. Why? Because even a small mistake, a technical error, can lead to administrative or criminal liability, and worst of all—being added to the register of corrupt officials,” he says.
Mazalov emphasizes that the approach to filing declarations has changed dramatically: whereas it used to be a formality, it is now a full-fledged and often complex task.
“And yes, indeed, whereas before this declaration was filled out, you know, like a careless student taking an exam who just wrote down whatever they could remember, now it’s a completely different kind of work in terms of quality,” he says.
Mazalov adds that professional assistance is now indispensable for complex cases.
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“If a person has significant assets, corporate rights, foreign accounts, or holdings in companies—it’s impossible to navigate without a team,” he adds.
The cost of such assistance, he says, can vary significantly.
“As for the cost, this, again, is a matter of market dynamics. It can range from $100 for filing a tax return to tens of thousands. It all depends on the complexity and the amount of work involved,” he adds.
The expert debunked the common myth that lawyers can help hide assets. According to him, the role of lawyers is not to conceal assets, but to properly document the information and minimize the risk of errors.
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“You can file a declaration where everything appears to be correct, but you can’t make sure everything is actually correct. If there’s a violation, you can’t hide it,” he says.
In turn, Serhiy Hupyak, deputy head of the NACP, emphasizes that Ukraine’s declaration system itself is one of the most complex in the world.
“We must acknowledge that Ukraine’s declaration system is one of the most complex in the world. It has the largest number of sections, assets subject to declaration, and a very large number of declarants—650,000 declarants,” says Hupyak.
He adds that this complexity is the reason for engaging professionals, and this is standard practice.
“This is not wrong, because where there is complexity and where the cost of a mistake is high, it is indeed the right thing to do to seek the help of professionals,” says Gupyak.
At the same time, he noted that declarants can currently also use the “Data for Declaration” or “Partial Auto-Fill of Declaration Draft” features, which significantly simplify the declaration process.
