17 December 2015, 09:57
The Committee at its meeting on December 16 considered five draft laws submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in the framework of the adoption of the draft State Budget of Ukraine for 2016.
The Committee members, following the consideration of the draft Law "On amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine concerning stabilization of the financial condition of the state and improvement of certain provisions of the social policy" No.3628, recommend that the Parliament return it for revision.
During the discussion of the draft law, Committee Chairperson Liudmyla Denisova expressed concern over the proposed provision, envisaging that the draft act does not require holding consultation with the public, and that the draft law does not involve issues of the social and labor sphere. "It is unclear how the Ministry of Social Policy has coordinated this wording of the draft law. It was necessary to ask the social partners, to listen to the opinion of the public, as this draft law directly relates to the social and labor sphere," she said.
The Committee members also made a number of critical remarks concerning the provisions of the draft law No.3628. In particular, what concerns an increase in the threshold of adjustment from 101% to 103%.
According to people’s deputies, in this case the grounds for the compensation of more expensive goods and services will occur later than envisaged now, and the amount of incomes received during this period will be lower, which in turn will lead to worsening of the purchasing power of citizens in the conditions of rising prices.
People's deputies pointed to the need to amend certain provisions of the draft law regarding non-application of restrictions on pension payment to people working at scientific posts, and to remove the provision setting in 2016 the average wage indicator in Ukraine for three calendar years preceding the year of assigning the pension at the level of indicator for 2012, 2013, 2014, for all pensions.
During the meeting of the Committee they also expressed concerns regarding the preservation in 2016 of limiting pensions to working pensioners, the introduction of the retirement age for certain categories of workers, in particular, in education, health care, social security, etc., who under the current legislation are entitled to assigning pensions for the years of employment, regardless of age, provided existence of the necessary specific record of service.
In turn, Valentyn Fedychyv, a representative of the Ministry of Defense, also expressed criticism over the draft law, noting that they have to prevent the withdrawal from the current legislation of a provision on compensation from the budget of the average earnings to employees called up for military service during the mobilization.
Due to the fact that legislative amendments apply to the sphere of education and culture their remarks on the need for revision of the draft law expressed Chairperson of the Committee on Science and Education Lilia Hrynevych and Secretary of the Committee on Culture and Spirituality Maria Matios.
Their remarks touched upon the impossibility of abolishment of preferential conditions for admission to the state and municipal vocational and higher education institutions for a number of categories of citizens, free catering for all pupils of 1st-4th grades in state and municipal general education schools except for certain categories, and transfer of financing of culture institutions to local budgets.
Following the examination, the Committee members recommend that the Parliament forward for revision the draft law on amendments to the Budget Code of Ukraine (concerning coordination of provisions of the Budget Code with amendments to sector and taxation legislation) No.3629. In their view, the draft law requires consultations with local authorities, since in practice the realization of the proposed legislative amendments will lead to an additional financial burden on local budgets. In turn, the lack of available funds in local self-government bodies will leave without proper state support the most vulnerable people, including families with many children, orphans, and disabled persons.
The Committee also recommends that the Parliament forward for revision the draft law on the creation of competitive conditions in taxation and stimulation of economic activity in Ukraine No.3630. This decision is due to the fact that the draft law preserves current order of taxation of pensions, and does not regulate the issue of defining the rate of the taxation social privilege which should be used to determine the right of a number of categories of citizens to privileges in payment for utility services.
The Committee members recommend that the Parliament adopt as a basis the draft law on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine in connection with the adoption of the Law of Ukraine "On creation of competitive conditions in taxation and stimulation of economic activity in Ukraine," No.3631. The draft law proposes to remove from among payers of the single social tax employees - citizens of Ukraine working at enterprises or with individual entrepreneurs, self-employed, employees of diplomatic missions, foster parents of family-type children's homes, persons supervising a child of up to three years, and military personnel. Also the draft law increases the maximum size of the base of taxation with the single social tax from 17 to 25 subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons. The rate of the single social tax for mandatory state social insurance is set at 20%.
The Committee members also approved the Committee's remarks and suggestions to the draft Law "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2016" No.3000.