New rules for car customs clearance for Ukrainians are underway: MPs have taken the first step

Ukraine plans to introduce customs clearance of passenger cars through Diia. The relevant draft law has already been supported by the relevant committee. This is the first step, and the document will then be considered in the parliamentary session hall in the first reading.

The new customs clearance rules are set out in draft law No. 10380. On February 1, it was supported by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation, and Customs Policy, according to committee chairman Danylo Hetmantsev (Servant of the People Party).

It is expected that as a result, Ukrainians will be able to submit electronic customs declarations through the Diia app, and businesses will be able to do so through the Diia web portal. At the same time, according to Mr. Hetmantsev, the new model will eliminate the following schemes:

• Indication of non-existent damages and malfunctions of a passenger car.
• Changes in the modification of a passenger car.
• Forgery of contracts for the sale and purchase of a passenger car (purchase orders, invoices).
• Changing odometer readings (artificially increasing or decreasing the mileage of a car).

As explained by the head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, the procedure for determining the customs value is currently influenced by the human factor. According to the Minister, "the price depends directly on the customs inspector". "Therefore, in the absence of clear criteria, there are opportunities for abuse. Both by customs officials and by declarants who often enter a lower value of the car to reduce the customs payment, which actually reduces budget revenues," the minister explained.

Instead, the authors of the draft law want to create a database of the customs value of passenger cars. According to Fedorov, it will be formed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation on the basis of customs data. The system will include the customs value of new passenger cars that have been cleared in Ukraine since 2007, indicating the model, year of manufacture, engine type and capacity, etc.

"The entire customs clearance process will be online. Diia will even help to fill out the customs declaration by pulling up information about the car by VIN code. Digitalization will make the customs clearance process transparent and fast. And most importantly, it will make any corruption schemes at customs completely impossible," the minister said.

Earlier, there have already been attempts to digitalize car customs clearance in Ukraine. However, MPs did not support the previous draft laws. "The previous concept was based on determining customs payments solely on the technical characteristics of the car, without the customs value. That is why the previous concept was not supported by MPs," Fedorov explained. At the same time, he assured that the new draft law includes the possibility of compliance with key international standards.

As reported earlier, a number of administrative services of the Interior Ministry's service centers have risen in price in Ukraine. For example, issuance of a driver's license now costs UAH 230 (excluding the commission of the bank or payment system through which the payment will be made), while previously it was UAH 26.

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