Lawyers do not help conceal violations in declarations, and the NACP even flags “logical errors,” experts say
13 April 16:19
The NACP states that involving lawyers in the completion of declarations is standard practice in many countries
Even a properly completed declaration does not guarantee the absence of violations if it contains inaccuracies or contradictions. At the same time, lawyers do not aim to conceal assets, but merely help to correctly prepare documents and avoid mistakes that could have legal consequences. This was stated in an interview with the YouTube channel
“You can file a declaration where everything appears to be correct, but you cannot ensure that everything is actually correct. If there is a violation, you cannot hide it. And lawyers are not the kind of people who help conceal a crime,” he noted.
Mazalov emphasized that lawyers act as consultants and help avoid mistakes when filling out declarations.
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“Consulting lawyers are the people who understand the mechanism and workflow of the NACP and help individuals properly file their declarations so as not to make these very logical errors, which are no less serious than intentional ones. They, too, bear responsibility. Therefore, our task is not to hide a person’s assets, but to file them correctly and, if there are contentious issues, to convey our position to the NACP,” the expert explained.
At the same time, Serhiy Hupyak , Deputy Head of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention, noted that involving lawyers in the preparation of declarations is standard practice in many countries.
“If we look at other countries with robust tax declaration systems, it is not unusual there for people to hire lawyers or even entire teams—economists and attorneys—to prepare tax returns. In other words, everyone treats this as normal. But in our country, questions arise when people hire lawyers to help them file declarations with the NACP.
“This is wrong, because where there is complexity and where the cost of a mistake is high, it is indeed the right thing to seek and use the help of professionals, and to take the initiative to seek clarifications and study this database,” noted Hupyak.
As reported by
