“My grandmother would never pay that kind of money”: how 23% taxes are driving the apartment rental market underground
16 January 15:32
The current system of taxation on rental income makes it practically impossible for people with low incomes, such as pensioners, to legally rent out apartments. This was stated in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian" by Olena Haidamaha, president of the Association of Real Estate Professionals.
“Let’s take, for example, two elderly women who don’t have enough money and have decided to live in one apartment and rent out the other. This is not a fictional story; such cases do occur.
Please tell me, how much tax does this grandmother have to pay for renting out her apartment? 18% plus a 5% military tax, which is 23% in total. She will never be able to pay that kind of money,” she says.
According to the expert, high taxes only exacerbate the shadow economy in wartime.
“23% is a lot. The market is already in the shadows, and it will go even deeper,” she added.
Haidamaka is convinced that taxes should be reduced. Then the lion’s share of homeowners will start working honestly, filling the state budget with money.
