Military duty will increase retroactively: Ukrainians’ salaries will be lower in October
3 October 2024 13:32
Due to the government’s plans to increase the military tax from 1.5% to 5%, Ukrainians will receive a reduced salary in October. This was announced by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to him, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy recently considered for the second reading the government’s draft law 11416-d on tax increases.
According to the MP, taxes will be raised “retroactively”.
“According to the Rada’s schedule, if the law is passed, the President will be able to physically sign it in the 20s of October at the earliest. That is, somewhere after 15 October, it will come into force and retroactively from 1 October, the military tax will be raised from 1.5% to 5% on all salaries at the end of the month,” the MP explained.
He noted that it will look like this: around 14-15 October, Ukrainians will receive an advance payment, and the military tax will be 1.5% of it, as the law has not yet entered into force. But after that, the tax for October will no longer be 1.5%, but 5%, including the advance.
Zheleznyak added that an employer who has already paid an advance will not be able to take the money back, so the Ministry of Finance proposes to compensate them when paying the basic salary.
“What should the employer do? He has already paid the advance and will not take the money back? Here, the Ministry of Finance proposes to simply take the money when the salary is paid. That is, somewhere at the end of this month, people will receive their salaries not only with a -3.5% increase in the military tax, but also minus the money from the advance payment…… I can imagine the reaction of people, especially public sector employees,” Zheleznyak concluded.
As a reminder, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is planning tax changes. According to a published document, the government plans to raise the military tax, which currently stands at 1.5%, to 5%.
In a commentary to Kommersant Ukrainian 
, investment banker Sergey Fursa said that such a step was forced, as military operations continue in the country. In his opinion, a better solution would probably be to raise VAT or excise taxes, but the most important thing is to fill the budget.
