Payer’s Actions in Case the Decision on TI/SA Registration or Denial of its Registration Does Not Arrive

Quite often, taxpayers who filed a complaint against the SFS Commission’s decision on denying the tax invoice registration do not receive any response from the supervisory authority. In other words, there is a situation when the final decision on the complaint filed is not yet made, while the tax invoice remains blocked, and it is unclear when the SFS will send its response to this complaint.

What is one supposed to do in this situation? How can one force the SFS to “unblock” the tax invoice?

The procedure for reviewing complaints about the SFS Commission’s decisions to deny TI/SA registration in the Unified Register of Tax Invoices (URTI), as approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 485 of July 4, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as “the Procedure No. 485”), stipulates only 10 days for considering such a complaint and making a decision. From the systematic interpretation of Paragraph 16 of the Procedure No. 485 and Article 56.23 of the Tax Code of Ukraine (TCU), we know that in case the decision has not been sent to the payer within 10 days after receipt of the complaint, such decision is deemed to be made in his/her favour. However, the SFS does not monitor the time frames for complaint consideration by the Commission and fails to automatically unblock tax invoices.

In this case, we are proposing to file a complaint to the SFS about the inaction of its Commission responsible for consideration of complaints and the demand to register the tax invoice. Although the administrative procedure for appealing against the inaction of tax authorities is not explicitly provided for in the TCU or other regulatory acts, in our opinion, the taxpayer has to file such an appeal, thereby using the rights granted by the TCU.

If such a complaint is not satisfied or was not considered at all, the final stage of “unblocking” the tax invoice will be bringing an administrative action before the court. It is necessary to request the court to satisfy the complaint against the decision of the Commission in favour of the payer and oblige the Commission to register the tax invoice in the URTI.

The decisive point in such a dispute will be the evidence that the tax authority has not sent its response to the taxpayer. Usually, such evidence can and must be collected before filing a complaint to the SFS or bringing an action before the court, and this is already the task of lawyers responsible for such a case.