The idea of providing a deferment for money causes skepticism among experts.
Almost every day there is news regarding mobilization . But along with the consideration of the bill on mobilization in the offices, the authorities are considering another initiative. This time we are talking about providing reservations to Ukrainians who officially work and pay taxes. We are talking about paying personal income tax in the amount of 6 thousand UAH per month, for which you need to receive a salary of about 35 thousand UAH. At the same time, the scandalous “servant” Maryana Bezuglaya threw out the idea of “armor” for 200 thousand hryvnia per month on social networks. There is no final concept for the changes yet, but Apostrophe’s sources confirm that work in this direction is indeed underway. Why such ideas are dangerous, read in our material.
Unanswered Questions
First, about the possible scale. According to the Pension Fund of Ukraine, in the first half of 2023 official salaries range from 20.1 to 100.5 thousand UAH. only 25.5% (including men and women) or about 1.9 million workers received it. The average salary in this segment is UAH 34 thousand.
Another 1.5 million Ukrainians earned from 0 to the minimum salary of 6.7 thousand UAH - 19.9%, and from 6.7 to 20.1 thousand UAH - 3.95 million workers or 53.4%. Some of them probably work under gray schemes, so under certain conditions they can be motivated to come out of the shadows. Another thing is that employers do not always agree to this. So, a priori, the right to reservation, according to the initiative, will not apply to the majority of Ukrainians. This raises the question: what is the purpose of such an initiative?
“From an economic standpoint, it won't fill the budget anywhere near enough for it to be effective. To solve economic issues, completely different approaches are needed,” says financial analyst and serviceman Evgeniy Nevmerzhitsky.
For 2024, the state budget already has a deficit of more than $40 billion. Increased mobilization could add several billion more dollars.
“If you have a legal salary, then exempting you from mobilization does not reduce this deficit, because you pay as before. If someone bleaches a salary, then the situation is as follows: a million bleached salaries (every tenth person liable for military service) with payment of +12 thousand UAH. per month (this is an increase from 10 to 35-45 thousand accrued salaries), this is an additional 12 billion UAH per month or 144 per year or 3.5 billion dollars. So the new initiative does not solve the problem of a deficit of 45-50 billion dollars,” — Alexey Gerashchenko, an economist and finance teacher at the Kiev-Mohyla Business School, comments on the initiative
Another question that remains unanswered is what to do with individual entrepreneurs. In particular, those who can receive the already mentioned about 35 thousand wages, but pay taxes less than 6 thousand UAH.
The danger of schisms
Experts interviewed by Apostrophe are particularly concerned about the social and political aspects of this initiative.
“In a state of war, the sense of social justice is extremely heightened,” Doctor of Sociological Sciences Alexander Stegny tells our publication , “of course, at the beginning someone may have had some illusions that this big attack would end quite quickly, but now we see that were drawn into a very terrible period: the existence of the country or its destruction. Social justice and all these initiatives must be based on the fact that the burden of war must be distributed among all citizens of Ukraine, which is the basis of trust as the social capital of the population in the authorities, including the Office of the President.”
But initiatives such as reservations in exchange for taxes, on the contrary, destroy the sense of social justice.
“Defending the Motherland is a duty. And here there is a moral component. Simply solving the issue with money is a violation of constitutional rights and humiliation of those who do not have enough money to pay for themselves and do not fulfill this responsibility,” adds Evgeniy Nevmerzhitsky.
Let us note that discrimination based on property status is prohibited by the Constitution of Ukraine.
Reference: Article 24 of the Constitution of Ukraine: Citizens have equal constitutional rights and freedoms and are equal before the law. There can be no privileges or restrictions based on race, skin color, political, religious and other beliefs, gender, ethnic and social origin, property status, place of residence, language or other grounds.
Improving what is
Still, booking changes are needed. According to economic expert Boris Kushniruk, one should focus on improving the existing system, especially regarding the elimination of the corruption component from it.
Let us remind you that according to the current Procedure, managers and deputies are subject to reservation, as well as 50% of the number of employees at critical enterprises who meet three of the seven criteria. Some of them are clear: the amount of taxes, income and fees must exceed the equivalent of 1.5 million euros; the amount of receipts in foreign currency (excluding loans and advances) must exceed 32 million euros. Other criteria are vague, which creates conditions for manipulation and corruption.
“Objectively, there is a certain category of people who theoretically can be mobilized based on age and health. But if this is the owner of a business and 10 or more people work there and, accordingly, if you take this person away, then you can simply close such a business , leaving people without work, without taxes, etc. This applies to both company managers and key employees. Obviously this is a bad story for the country. So obviously people need to have a reservation. But this cannot be just a gift,” says Boris Kushniruk.
According to him, the cost of booking such persons should cover the maintenance of at least one fighter - which is equivalent to several thousand dollars, that is, from 200 thousand hryvnia. In addition, additional payments must be made each month for this person's booking, so that the business owner is not dependent on the employee.
But obviously, such changes will be made (if at all) only in conjunction with the draft law on mobilization.
“Obviously, we will have a serious discussion in parliament about the mobilization initiatives that were recently expressed in the mobilization bill. Despite the fact that any alternative initiatives do not remove the fact that we will not escape the new wave of mobilization, ” summarizes political scientist Pyotr Oleshchuk, “ Now it is obvious that the center of the discussion is moving to the Verkhovna Rada, because this is the only institution that has the authority adopt changes to legislation."
In this context, a survey on the people’s deputy’s Facebook page from “Servant of the People” Maryana Bezugla was indicative. There she voiced an offer for “armor” for money. “ For example, 200 thousand UAH/month. This may also apply to private businesses, companies in relation to their employees, etc. “,” she wrote. The majority of respondents voted against.
