Real Estate

On 18 and 30 March 2020, the Parliament adopted amendments to the Tax Code aimed at protecting the interests of land taxpayers during the quarantine. In particular, the Law of Ukraine “On Amending the Tax Code of Ukraine and Other Laws of Ukraine to Support Taxpayers for the Period of Measures Aimed at Preventing Occurrence and Spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)” dated March 18, 2020 and the Law of Ukraine “Amending Сertain Legislative Acts Aimed at Providing Additional Social and Economic Guarantees in Connection with Spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-2019)” dated March 30, 2020 were introduced.

According to the abovementioned laws, the land tax shall not be charged or payed for the period from 1 March to 30 April 2020 (land tax and rent for state and communal land plots) for the land plots owned or used, including on terms of lease, by individuals or legal entities, once such land is used by them in business activities.

Land tax returns for 2020 have already been submitted by taxpayers. However, the amendments introduced by the laws provide that, in order to reduce tax payments on land for the period from 1 March to 30 April 2020, the taxpayers have the right to submit a tax return, which should reflect the changes in the tax obligation to pay land fees for the respective months. Thus, the reduction of tax payments for land by legal entities for March-April 2020 period will be implemented solely by the submission of the clarifying tax returns.

According to the mentioned Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts to Provide Additional Social and Economic Guarantees in Connection with Spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-2019)" dated 30 March 2020, lessees that cannot use the leased object during the quarantine shall be exempt from payment for such use.

Thus, from the moment of quarantine establishment and until its completion in accordance with the procedure established by law, a lessee is exempted from payment for the use of property in accordance with part 6 of Article 762 of the Civil Code. The said article stipulates that a lessee is exempt from payment for all time during which the property could not be used due circumstances for which a lessee is not responsible.

In accordance with the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 218 dated 13 March 2020, the State Architectural and Construction Inspection was liquidated and a new central executive body – the State Urban Planning Service of Ukraine – was created.

The main tasks of the newly created shall be provision (receipt, registration), refusal to issue or cancellation (annulment) of documents, which give the right to perform preparatory and construction works as well as commissioning of completed objects. Until the newly created body starts full functioning, the State Architectural and Construction Inspection will continue exercise its powers.

Another two central executive bodies in sphere of construction were established by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 219 dated 13 March 2020 – the State Inspection for Urban Planning of Ukraine and the State Agency for Technical Regulation in Urban Planning of Ukraine.

The main functions of the State Inspection of Urban Planning will be supervision and control in the field of construction. The State Agency for Technical Regulation will become the basis for the future reform of technical regulation: parametric system, reform of state building provisions, eurocodes. The agency will start working later than the two other bodies.

On 11 March 2020, the first online broadcast of agricultural land disposal took place on the official website and official channel of the State Geocadastre on YouTube, in real-time, with the participation of specialists of the State Geocadastre divisions.

According to the State Geocadastre, such an initiative is a guarantee of an open and impartial process of agricultural land disposal as it gives citizens the opportunity to be aware of the decisions of the territorial bodies of the service. The weekly schedule of broadcasts can be found on the website of the State Geocadastre.

Announcements of the events with a list of application numbers planned for consideration, will be made public on the eve of the broadcast. After the broadcast, the authorized persons will record all orders and publish the appropriate decisions.