APPEALS FROM TAX ASSESSMENTS: NEW RULES FOR COURT FEES

Once again the rules for payment of court fees in cases involving appeals from tax assessments have been altered. The respective law on amendments to the Law on Court Fees entered into force on 23 October 2013.

*- minimum statutory salary taken into account for the calculation of court fees in 2013 amounts to UAH 1,147.

As one can see, the amounts of court fees have increased approximately twofold, but in most cases the payment will be at least half less at the phase of the filing of the claim. 
 

It is noteworthy that the procedure for payments of court fees has been also recently modified. Pursuant to its letter of 16 August 2013 No 12-4618/13 the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine abolished the requirement of putting an inscription "UAH ____ Remitted to the State Revenues (date)” being signed by the first and second officers of the bank and made under the bank’s round seal to a court fees-related payment order. 
 

Consequently, to date such an inscription on the payment order is no more mandatory. 

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Court Duty for Challenging Tax Assessments Rises

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The court duty for challenging tax assessments has risen. The most interesting thing is that this increase has occurred with no interference from the side of the legislature. It is just the result of the clarification of the Highest administrative court of Ukraine.

In its letter No 165/11/13-12 of 18 January 2012 the Highest Administrative Court of Ukraine spelled out that the claims related to appealing tax assessments are those of property nature. Thus, they qualify for the rate of court duty laid down for property claims and do not qualify for its rate established for non-property claims.

The rate for property claims, which is now applicable to the claims related to tax assessments, is 1% of the amount of the claim but not more than 2 minimum wage rates (UAH2,146 for 2012) and not less than 0,1 minimum wage rate (UAH107.30 for 2012). The rate for non-property claims that was formerly applicable to the clams under consideration is 0.03 minimum wage rate (UAH32.19 for 2012).

Principally, this scenario might have been foreseen at the time when the Court Duty Act (1 November 2011) took effect. The point is that the Court Duty Act changed the criteria based on which the court duty rates were applied to administrative claims. Before the Court Duty Act came in force (pursuant to the Closing and Transition Provisions of the Administrative Proceeding Code of Ukraine) the 1% court duty rate had concerned only claims aimed at the collection of funds, which had apparently precluded it from being applied to the claims in relation to tax assessments. Since the effective date of the Court Duty Act the rate in question has become applicable to any property claim.

In the light of this, it was not extremely difficult for the Highest Administrative Court of Ukraine to reason that the claims on the cancellation of tax assessments fall within the scope of property claims.