Tax, customs services hinder business development, most Ukrainians say

Half of Ukrainians believe that tax and customs authorities are interfering with the work of entrepreneurs, most of which are law-abiding, a new survey reveals.

In a study by the Kyiv international institute of sociology, requested by the Centre for Social and Economic Research CASE Ukraine, 50.7 percent of respondents said that tax and customs authorities should catch violators and not interfere with the work of honest entrepreneurs.

At the same time, 42.6 percent of those surveyed are convinced that without careful control of the tax and customs authorities, most entrepreneurs will not pay taxes voluntarily.

Another 6.7 percent could not say whether entrepreneurs would voluntarily pay taxes without excessive control and coercion by the tax service and customs.

The study, conducted in February 2023, covered 2001 Ukrainians of full age, with the statistical sampling error not exceeding 2.4 percent.

Earlier, it was reported that more than 202,000 new sole proprietors, or FOPs, had been registered in Ukraine in a year following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.