Benchmark and Tax Expenditures on Personal Income Tax in Ukraine

Abstract

Abstract The spread of the concept of tax expenditures in many countries of the world resulted in the creation of the Global Tax Expenditures Database which included information from Ukraine where regular reporting is conducted on tax benefits which are losses of budget revenues. However, this reporting is incomplete, since it does not include tax expenditures on personal income tax. The introduction of reporting on tax expenditures on this tax puts on the agenda the problem of identifying the elements of its benchmark and tax expenditures. The purpose of this article is to substantiate their main components. The research was carried out using general scientific methods of cognition: critical analysis, combination of normative (conceptual) and positive (legal) approaches, abstract-logical and concrete, comparative analysis. Based on the results of the study, groups of elements that can be attributed to the benchmark of the tax have been identified: incomes provided from sources defined by international treaties of Ukraine; payments that do not increase the taxpayer’s income; incomes whose exemption from taxes ensures the avoidance of double taxation; expenses related to receiving income; incomes that are not included in the taxable amount due to the difficulties of their administration; exclusion from the taxable amount of the revenues that may not qualify as tax expenditures due to small amounts. Tax benefits that can be included in the budget of tax expenditures on the income tax have been identified and classified according to the form of provision and functional orientation. Although only certain provisions of the income tax legislation have been identified, their classification into subgroups may facilitate the determination of the remaining components of the benchmark and tax expenditures.