Legislative news digest: LEGAL HOTLINE 28.11.2019

The Prosecutor’s office no longer carries out pre-trial investigation

As of November 21, 2019, the Prosecutor’s office no longer carries out the function of pre-trial investigation.

Investigative forces of the Prosecutor’s office have already forwarded the incomplete inquiries to the relevant bodies: the State Bureau of Investigation, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the National Police of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, etc.

In turn, the Prosecutor’s office continues to organize and coordinate pre-trial investigations, that is, the procedural guidance of the investigation.

It should be noted that the function of pre-trial investigation was only temporarily executed by the Prosecutor’s office.

Thus, in accordance with the Transitional Period Provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Prosecutor’s office continued to perform the function of pre-trial investigation, in accordance with the laws in force, before the functioning of the bodies to which the respective functions would be delegated. According to the Transitional Period Provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On the Prosecutor’s office”, after the State Bureau of Investigation started its work, the Prosecutor’s office had to complete the investigation within a specified period or to decide whether it should be assigned to other bodies of pre-trial investigation.

Attempts to legalize cryptocurrency

The corresponding bill draft No. 2461 “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other laws of Ukraine on taxation of operations with cryptoassets” was registered on November 15, 2019.

The bill draft proposes to define at national level the following terms: “virtual asset”, “cryptoasset”, “operation with cryptoassets”, “distributed ledger”, “token” and “token-asset”. It is also envisaged to include in the tax base for tax income the investment income from operations with cryptoassets, which is taxed at the rate of 5% for a period of 5 years.

The purpose of the bill draft is to create conditions for the functioning of the virtual assets market and to increase revenues to the state and local budgets from taxes on operations with such assets.

Making interbank payments at any time of the day

The National Bank of Ukraine has announced the transition of the Electronic Payments System (EPS) to the extended operating procedure since April 2020.

The regulator notified that the EPS would be available for making interbank payments 23 hours a day 7 days a week (23/7), taking into account the routine break per hour when switching to a new banking day.

According to the National Bank, the round-the-clock settlement with a routine break of 1 hour a day will be available as early as the second quarter of 2020, and the system will be working continuously by the end of spring next year.

It is planned that the EPS operation in 23/7 mode will be the first stage to switch to the 24/7 mode.

To this end, the draft resolution “On Approving Changes to the Instruction on Interbank Funds Transfer in Ukraine in National Currency” is proposed for public discussion. You can submit your comments and suggestions to the draft by December 24, 2019.

It is worth reminding that today EPS accepts interbank payments from 8.30 to 19.00 on weekdays and does not work on holidays and weekends.

It is planned to release online stores from use of cash registers

The bill draft “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Application of Cash Registers in the Sphere of Trade, Catering and Services” Regarding the Development of Small Businesses and Measures to Unshadowing the Circulation of Commodities and Services” has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada.

The bill draft provides for the release of business entities, including online stores, which receive payments for the goods (services) provided in cashless form (using payment cards, payment checks, tokens, etc.) from the obligation to use cash registers. These entities will have the right to use cash registers at will.

It is also planned to reduce the amount of financial sanctions for violation of the Law “On cash registers” for business entities that perform settlement operations for goods (services), by the decision of the relevant controlling bodies.

Generally speaking, the bill draft aims to facilitate the conduct of business in Ukraine, to stimulate business entities to voluntarily limit cash turnover and to increase Ukraine’s position in the Doing Business rating.