ON TUESDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, PLENARY MEETINGS OF THE SEVENTH SESSION OF THE VERKHOVNA RADA OF UKRAINE OF THE SIXTH CONVOCATION WERE HELD.
Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, briefed on the results of work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during the plenary meetings on 2-5 November.
V. Lytvyn announced that the title of the BYuT faction was changed into BYuT-Batkivshchyna pursuant to the protocol of the faction sitting.
The Chairman suggested prolonging the afternoon sitting till 22.00 due to the scrutiny of the draft Tax Code of Ukraine in the second reading.
The parliamentarians upheld the proposal by 227 votes.
The Deputies failed to uphold the proposal on the live broadcast of the sitting on the square before the Verkhovna Rada, where the representatives of small and medium-sized business gathered.
V.Khomutynnik, Chairman of the Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy, reminded that the Verkhovna Rada adopted the bill as a basis on 7 October 2010. According to the Committee Chairman, the Committee working groups held nearly 100 sittings with the participation of the People´s Deputies, Cabinet of Ministers representatives, public board of the Committee, trade unions, businesspeople and and scholars.
He stated that adjusting the bill to the second reading, the Committee received 4400 proposals. He declared that the bill sets the fundamentals of the tax system, lists the taxes and duties (compulsory charges) to be paid to the budgets of all levels. The bill also offers the methodology of their calculation; fixes the tax rates; determines the legal status of the tax payers, the procedure of tax administration and appeal against the resolutions of the monitoring agencies, as well as terms and conditions of imposing financial penalties on the tax payers for the violation of tax legislation.
The bill regulates special tax treatments (a system of actions specifying the special tax treatment of business entities) established and applied exclusively in compliance with the Tax Code.
The People´s Deputies commenced clause-by-clause discussion of the draft. Opposition representatives insisted on putting to the vote all the amendments that were introduced and adopted (rejected). The speakers stressed that such Laws as "On the Status of the State Revenue Service" and "On the Social Insurance Tax" were not considered in the code.
While the amendments were scrutinized, the opponents of the draft drew attention to the numerous drawbacks.
In the result of the voting, none of the rejected amendments was upheld.
V. Kolesnichenko, People´s Deputy of Ukraine, informed about the numerous appeals of the voters with a request to preserve the right on renunciation of an individual tax payer identification code.
V. Khomutynnik announced that the bill strictly regulated that issue that gave the right to a person not to use an individual tax payer identification code, but the passport data.
Representatives of the opposition have repeatedly appealed to the Chairman with a request to switch on the live broadcast of the sitting on the square before the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
V. Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, declared that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine rejected that proposal.
During the morning sitting, the parliamentarians scrutinized 586 amendments out of 4 879. In the result of the voting, 20 clauses of Chapter "General Provisions" were adopted with the suggested amendments. These clauses define the scope of the Tax Code of Ukraine, tax legislation and its fundamental principles; harmonize the tax legislation with other legislative acts; define the concept of tax and charge; set the principles of the tax administration; determine the types of taxes and charges, the all-Ukrainian taxes and charges, local taxes and charges; regulate the special tax treatments.
At the afternoon sitting, the People´s Deputies continued scrutiny of the amendments to the clauses of the Tax Code.
Parliamentarians completed clause-by-clause discussion of Chapter I "General Provisions" and adopted it.
While clause 75 on the inspections was being scrutinized, A. Kinakh recommended postponing its consideration in the third reading.
Yu. Karmazin, People´s Deputy of Ukraine, insisted on the rejection of the clause. He stated that adoption of this clause would terminate the business, as it would be fiscally ‘overloaded.´
The proposal was rejected.
The parliamentarians singled out the drawbacks and ambiguities in the comparison table.
S. Arzhevitin, People´s Deputy of Ukraine, suggested upholding his amendments concerning tax exemption of educational establishments of all levels, not only of the third and fourth levels of accreditation.
V. Khomutynnik responded that this proposal had been taken into account.
The People´s Deputies also scrutinized the amendments to the clauses of Chapter II "Administration of Taxes and Charges (Compulsory Payments)", Chapter III "Corporate Income Tax", Chapter IV "Income Tax" and Chapter V "Value-Added Tax."
On the whole, the parliamentarians scrutinized more than 180 amendments and adopted 211 clauses in the second reading.
V. Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, addressed the specialized committee and the Cabinet of Minister with a request to analyze the amendments adopted.
The Chairman adjourned the afternoon sitting.