On 17 August 2023, Ukraine announced that the development of software for the State Tax Service of Ukraine has been completed, which will ensure the international automatic exchange of information under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and the Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) standard with more than 100 foreign tax administrations.

The initiative was implemented thanks to the fruitful cooperation between the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the State Tax Service of Ukraine and the European Union’s Public Finance Management Support Programme for Ukraine (EU4PFM). The cooperation with the EU4PFM Project is aimed at supporting the implementation of international standards on transparency and information exchange in Ukraine in order to successfully implement international cooperation instruments in the tax area.

From now on, the State Tax Service, as the competent authority of Ukraine for the purposes of international automatic exchange, has the technical capacity (taking into account the provisions of the Tax Code of Ukraine and the requirements of international standards) to start the first exchanges with the tax authorities of jurisdictions that are parties to the relevant international multilateral agreements (MCAA CRS and MCAA CbC).

The first exchange of information on financial accounts in accordance with the CRS will take place in 2024 for the second half of 2023 (the first reporting period). Thereafter, the previous calendar year will be considered the reporting period.

Ukraine’s accession to the international system of automatic exchange of information will help create a more transparent tax environment and enhance Ukraine’s image as a reliable and equal partner in international tax relations.

The systematic analysis of information received by the State Tax Service of Ukraine from foreign competent authorities is an important tool for controlling the timeliness and completeness of the declaration of assets and income subject to taxation, identifying undeclared assets and income, and combating tax evasion.

The introduction of the international automatic exchange of information for tax purposes (CRS and CbCR) is an important achievement for Ukraine as a candidate country for EU accession on the way to harmonising its national legislation with EU acquis.