Under the cover of the IMF: why are the authorities clamping down on individual entrepreneurs?

Source: Author’s Facebook page

The authorities decided to clamp down on individual entrepreneurs instead of systematically working on de-industrialization of the economy and stopping smuggling at customs.

The government and Zelensky agreed to the IMF’s condition of increasing taxes for individual entrepreneurs and establishing a 20% VAT for them. After all, it is easier to take the latter away from legally operating entrepreneurs than to cut off the heads of the corruption hydra and Mindich’s friends.

Our Nina Yuzhanina submitted a request to the State Tax Service regarding analytical data on individual entrepreneurs

In total, there are 294 thousand individual entrepreneurs – single tax payers of the 2nd and 3rd groups, who in 2025 received income of more than 4 million UAH, among them:
▪ 122,375 – retail trade
▪ 49,671 – wholesale trade
▪ 21,842 – hotels and catering
▪ 17,409 – processing industry
▪ 15,865 – IT
▪ 13,487 – law, accounting, advertising, design
▪ 10,549 – transport repairs and spare parts
▪ 9,951 – transport and logistics

Could there be abuse and evasion of due taxation among these entrepreneurs? Yes, but the authorities and the regulator should develop mechanisms for specific solutions to this problem.

Instead, people who create jobs for themselves and give jobs to others, finance the army, and provide pensions are forced into complex administration and increased taxation.

Ukrainian business is surviving on its last strength today and another tightening of the screws will only lead to an increase in the shadow sector and the closure of businesses. And the IMF, which the government uses as cover, understands the complexities of the Ukrainian economy and they could come to the meeting if the government tightened corruption schemes and brought order to the customs.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Ukraine could run out of defense funding within two months amid delays in international aid. The available resources will last only until June . According to estimates by the Ukrainian authorities, the country needs $52 billion in foreign aid in 2026 to cover budget needs.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine has published a large-scale tax bill that includes changes for individual entrepreneurs, digital platforms, and international parcels. Its adoption is expected to attract about 60 billion hryvnias to the budget annually.

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