Taxes and tax consulting. Tax planning and business structuring

Situation: A representative office of a Turkish company issued a tax invoice for the total amount of UAH 222,644,405.65 including VAT following the next stage of construction of a bridge crossing. However, the tax authority suspended the registration of the said tax invoice in the Unified Register of Tax Invoices. In this regard, the Representative Office of the Turkish company sought legal assistance from “ARMADA” Law Firm. The complexity of the situation was due to the fact that the construction of the bridge crossing began in 2020 and its total amount has already exceeded UAH 1,000,000,000.00 including VAT, and payment, according to the terms of the Agreement, was made in both in Ukrainian hryvnias and euros.

Our actions: Andrii Yurin, the attorney at law of ‘ARMADA’ Law Firm, collected a package of documents and prepared explanations that fully confirmed the business transaction on the basis of which the tax invoice was prepared.

To reflect the entire scope of work on the construction of the bridge, Andrii Yurin prepared tables containing information on the amount of work performed and the amount of money received (both in euros and hryvnias). The total number of annexes in connection with the above exceeded 250.

Result: As a result of the attorney’s hard work and high level of expertise, the tax invoice totalling UAH 222,644,405.65 including VAT was registered at the pre-trial stage!

ARMADA Law Firm was contacted by an exporter who was unable to deliver goods to the buyer within the time limit set by law. Due to the impossibility of delivering the goods by sea, the currency control deadlines were violated and the client was charged a penalty of more than USD 2700 per day. The lawyers of the tax law and consulting practice supported the procedure for obtaining a certificate of force majeure for the buyer (inability to accept the goods) and successfully appealed the tax inspection report in an administrative procedure.

Situation: ARMADA Law Firm was contacted by a company specialising in the production of parts and spare parts with a request to prevent the blocking of tax invoices, as this was a significant problem for its business activities.

Our actions: the team of tax practice of ARMADA Law Firm, Anastasiia Luuk and Danylo Sukhovii, analysed the specifics of the company’s activities, prepared detailed explanations to two tables of the taxpayer’s data for each item and formed a comprehensive package of documents.

Result: the taxpayer’s data tables were accepted by the supervisory authority, and the company is now able to carry out its business activities without any obstacles.

A group of companies requested advice and support in the procedure for submitting notifications on controlled foreign companies. Also, they requested advice on tax structuring of export activities of affiliated legal entities. The practice team conducted an analysis of controlled foreign companies’ compliance, prepared and submitted a notification to the State Tax Service on the acquisition of a share in a foreign legal entity in accordance with the requirements of the Tax Code of Ukraine. The team also developed tax structuring schemes for foreign economic activity, taking into account the specifics of taxation under the laws of Poland and Germany. The deal value is over EUR 50,000,000.

Situation: The client contacted us with the problem of being classified as a risky VAT payer and, as a result, blocking of tax invoices and refusal to cooperate by contractors.

Our actions: Andrii Yurin, attorney at law at ARMADA Law Firm, analysed the documents provided by the client and reviewed the court practice. Based on the documents provided, the attorney built a strategy for further defence. As a result of the filed statement of claim, the court of first instance ruled in favour of our client.

Result: a successful victory in the court of first instance. The court fully recognised the arguments of the attorney and made a decision that fully satisfied the administrative claim in favour of the client.

Case number: 160/20473/23.

The team of lawyers of ARMADA’s tax practice provided tax consulting on international tax structuring and conclusion of a contract with a non-resident, supported the procedure of reconciliation of differences in the contract, negotiated with the counterparty’s team in English and achieved conclusion of the contract on the most favourable terms.

Situation: A company contacted ARMADA Law Firm at the stage of filing a statement of claim to unblock a tax invoice totalling UAH 2,129,868.63 including VAT.

Our actions: The team of tax practice of ARMADA Law Firm, Olena Bosonchenko and Vadym Chornyi, collected all the necessary documents, studied them in detail, analysed the current court practice, prepared and filed a statement of claim with a request to declare the decision of the Main Department of the State Tax Service to refuse to register the tax invoice unlawful and to oblige the State Tax Service of Ukraine to register the tax invoices in the Unified Register of Tax Invoices.

Result: As a result of the case consideration, the court decided to satisfy the claims in full. In addition, the Fifth Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the Main Department of the State Tax Service and upheld the decision of the first instance court.

Case number: 420/19643/23.

Situation: The client contacted ARMADA Law Firm in connection with the blocking of economic activity due to the inclusion of the company in the list of risky VAT payers.

Our actions: The attorney of ARMADA Law Firm analysed the Decision on the compliance of the VAT payer with the riskiness criteria and sent a legal request to the supervisory authority to clarify it. As a result of the decision, the attorney prepared the Information on the client’s non-compliance with the risk criteria. As a result of the persistent unlawful failure to exclude the VAT payer from the list of risky ones, the tax team of ARMADA Law Firm collected a package of documents, analysed the court practice and filed a statement of claim to the court.

Result: Victory in the court of first instance and the court of appeal. The court ordered the supervisory authority to exclude the company of the client of ARMADA Law Firm from the list of risky VAT payers.

Case number: 240/2525/22

Situation: A company applied to ARMADA Law Firm to challenge in court the decision of the Commission on registration suspension of tax invoice/adjustment calculation in the Unified Register of Tax Invoices of the State Tax Service of Ukraine due to failure to take into account the VAT payer’s data table.

Our actions: The team of tax practice of ARMADA Law Firm collected all the necessary documents, studied them in detail, analysed the current judicial practice, prepared and filed a statement of claim with a request to declare unlawful and cancel the decision of the State Tax Service on failure to take into account the data table of the VAT payer.

Result: As a result of the case consideration, the court decided to satisfy the claims in full: the decision of the Commission on registration suspension of tax invoice/adjustment calculation in the Unified Register of Tax Invoices of the State Tax Service of Ukraine on failure to take into account the data table of the VAT payer was declared unlawful and cancelled.

Case number: 440/394/22

Situation: “Hidroaparatura” LLC applied to “ARMADA” Law Firm due to the fact that the supervisory authority suspended the registration of a tax invoice in the amount of UAH 6,221,460.00 with VAT. The client submitted an explanation on his own, which was not taken into account by the supervisory authority. Therefore, the client decided to seek professional assistance.

Our actions: As a result of the analysis of the previously submitted explanations and the decision received from the supervisory authority, the tax practice team of “ARMADA” Law Firm collected additional documents, formed a legal position and prepared a complaint.

Result: The complaint was satisfied in full, the decision to refuse to register the tax invoice was cancelled, and the tax invoice in the amount of UAH 6,221,460.00 with VAT was registered in the Unified Register of Tax Invoices. The client saved money and time on court appeal and retained his counterparty.