Administrative Procedure for Appealing Tax Assessment Notices

Paragraph 56.1 of Article 56 of the Tax Code of Ukraine provides that decisions made by controlling authorities may be appealed through administrative or judicial channels.

The administrative procedure for appealing tax assessment notices (tax notification-decisions) is regulated by Article 56 of the Tax Code of Ukraine.

In accordance with the aforementioned article, if a taxpayer disagrees with the tax authority's position, they have the right, within 10 days from the date of receiving the tax assessment notice, to submit a complaint to a higher-level controlling authority for the purpose of reviewing the adopted decision.

For example, you can appeal a decision of a district tax inspection to the Main Directorate of the Fiscal Service of the respective oblast, and a decision of the oblast fiscal service directorate to the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine.

Important to remember! Simultaneously with sending the complaint, you are obliged to notify the controlling authority that made the contested decision that you are using the administrative appeal procedure for such a decision. The administrative appeal procedure suspends the legal effect of the tax assessment notice; in other words, the taxpayer is not obliged to execute the decision until the administrative appeal procedure concludes.

Tax lawyer in Kyiv: properly certified copies of documents confirming the taxpayer's position and calculations are submitted along with the complaint.

When reviewing the complaint, the tax authority is guided by the principle of the lawfulness of the taxpayer's actions; in other words, the controlling authority itself must properly prove the lawfulness of its actions.

As a general rule, the controlling authority is given 20 days to review the complaint (from the moment of its receipt), although this period may be extended up to 60 days.

In cases where the controlling authority fails to make a decision within 20 days from the date of receiving the complaint (or 60 days if the review period has been extended), such a complaint is deemed to be upheld.

If the administrative procedure does not yield the expected result, pursuant to Article 56.19 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, you have 30 days to file a lawsuit in court for the annulment of the tax assessment notice. At the same time, we note that according to the position of the higher judicial authorities of Ukraine, under a correct interpretation of the norms of the Tax Code of Ukraine, this period is not 30 days, but 1095 days from the date of receiving the decision.