“My grandmother would never pay that much in her life”: how a 23% tax is driving the apartment rental market underground
16 January 15:32
YOUTUBE
The current system of taxation on rental income makes it practically impossible for people with low incomes—particularly pensioners—to legally rent out apartments. This was stated by Olena Haidamaha, president of the Association of Real Estate Professionals, in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
“Let’s take, for example, two elderly women who are struggling financially and have decided to live in one apartment and rent out the other. This isn’t a made-up story; such cases do happen.
Please tell me, how much tax does this elderly woman have to pay for renting out her apartment? 18% plus a 5% military tax, which comes to 23% in total. She would never in a million years be able to pay that much money today,” she says.
According to the expert, in wartime, high taxes only deepen the shadow economy.
“23% is a lot. The market is already in the shadows; it will go even deeper,” she added.
Haidamaha is convinced that taxes should be lowered. Then the vast majority of homeowners will start operating honestly, contributing money to the state budget.
