Ukraine: Treaties and transfer pricing developments

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Ukraine: Treaties and transfer pricing developments

kotenko.jpg

kalyta.jpg

Vladimir Kotenko


Iryna Kalyta

Ukraine signs a double tax treaty with Malta

On September 4 2013, Ukraine and Malta signed a double tax treaty. The treaty allows reducing withholding tax to 5% on dividends and to 10% on interest and royalties (conditions apply). The treaty will enter into force upon the exchange of ratification instruments and its provisions will apply from January 1 of the year following its entry into force.

New Ukrainian transfer pricing rules came into force

Starting September 1 2013, new transfer pricing rules finally became effective in Ukraine.

New regulations will apply to controlled transactions both for corporate profit tax and VAT purposes.

New transfer pricing rules introduced basic rules of functional and comparability analysis. Five methods, including comparable uncontrolled price, resale minus, cost plus, transactional net margin and profit split would be used for determining the arm's-length price for controlled transactions.

Controlled transactions for transfer pricing purposes will cover not only cross-border related party transactions, but also, in some cases, domestic related party transactions and even transactions with unrelated parties (for example located in low tax jurisdictions). The list of low tax jurisdictions will be adopted by the Ukrainian government. The annual threshold for controlled transactions is UAH50 million ($6.2 million).

An obligation to file transfer pricing reporting has been introduced. Transfer pricing documentation will have to be provided at the request of the tax authority. The first reporting period covers September to December 2013, and the first transfer pricing report is due by May 2014. Failure to report or to provide documentation will attract a prohibitive fine of 5% of the value of controlled transactions.

There will be a grace period on penalties for violation of transfer pricing rules from September 2013 to September 2014, but this grace period will not apply to penalties for failure to file the report or to provide documentation.

Although introduction of these more extensive transfer pricing rules is viewed as a positive development aimed at bringing Ukraine closer to OECD principles, many important matters are yet to be resolved. The government is expected to adopt secondary regulations explaining the new rules.

Vladimir Kotenko (vladimir.kotenko@ua.ey.com) and Iryna Kalyta (iryna.kalyta@ua.ey.com)

EY

Tel: +380 44 490 3000

Fax: +380 44 490 3030

Website: www.ey.com/ua

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

Magnus Pantzar is set to join as managing director after spending nearly a decade as EQT’s global head of tax
The OECD’s project was up for debate as Matt Williams spoke to ITR following BDO’s tax strategist survey, which uncovered increased complexity and costs among multinationals
Sponsored by Deloitte
Sameer Nurmohamed, partner, Deloitte Legal Canada
Sponsored by Deloitte
George Ankomah, partner, Tax & Regulatory Services, Deloitte Africa (Ghana)
The recent spree of firm mergers and acquisitions proves that geographic scale is the name of the game
The big four spin-off firm becomes Taxand’s second UK member; in other news, Haynes Boone launched a UK tax practice
Sponsored by Deloitte Luxembourg
Jean-Michel Henry and Mona El-Begawi of Deloitte Luxembourg examine the complexities created by timing differences in Luxembourg, EU, and OECD tax regimes
Stephanie Pantelidaki’s economic expertise will give Norton Rose Fulbright’s other teams ‘extra firepower,’ she says
Sponsored by MFA Legal & Tech
Samuel Fernandes de Almeida of MFA Legal & Tech assesses whether Portugal’s 7.5% surcharge on non-residents aligns with the EU’s free movement of capital principle and passes the proportionality test
Sponsored by McCarthy Tétrault
Senior McCarthy Tétrault tax practitioners highlight significant updates and implications for multinationals as Canada’s transfer pricing rules become more closely aligned with OECD guidance
Gift this article