Tax Talk in English

Friday before last saw the presentation of the English language website of Ukraine’s State Tax Administration (www.sta.gov.ua/english). In his introductory speech State Tax Administration Director Mykola AZAROV stressed the importance of utilizing modern Internet technologies as “a real means of providing citizens with the bulk of necessary information” on taxes and promised that the website will also host information on “issues of mass interest,” like recent high-profile cases of money laundering. The site’s major task is to inform nonresident businesspeople living in Ukraine. The information presented on the site partly duplicates the STAU Ukrainian language site launched in April last year (www.sta.gov.ua): the organizational structure of the service, legislative instruments, tax services contact telephones and addresses throughout Ukraine, along with a list of attached property for sale. However, many chapters have been adapted exclusively for nonresidents, for example, the forms of tax reports with advice on their use and list of countries which have concluded agreements with Ukraine to avoid double taxation. Here you will find links to data bases of documents on taxation in both English and Russian. The site also hosts electronic versions of two Tax Administration publications — the newspaper, Consultant, and journal, Ukraine Tax Service Bulletin, in English. The site also offers a handy search engine with functions of contextual and advanced search. And in the near future site visitors will be able to ask tax experts questions in an online Internet conference. According to STAU Deputy Director Viktor Onyshchenko, a Russian language version of the site will be launched in the immediate future.