Court decision is subject to enforcement

Complainee: The State Tax Service of Ukraine (STS)
Complaint in brief: The Council received a complaint from a car repair and maintenance service company. The company complained about the failure of the STS to enforce the court decision, according to which the tax authority had to increase the company’s registration limit amount in the SEA VAT by UAH 1mn. The court decision came into force a year and a half ago, but the tax authority refused to enforce it voluntarily. At the same time, the company appealed to the Decisions Enforcement Department of the State Enforcement Service (Enforcement Service) of the Ministry of Justice. The Enforcement Service initiated two enforcement proceedings at the complainant’s request and even informed the STS of a criminal offense commission. Despite the complainant’s long-lasting communication with the STS, the tax authority ignored the court decision enforcement. The Business Ombudsman Council started investigating the company’s complaint.
Actions taken: After examining the case file, the investigator found out the complaint contained signs of violation of rights and legitimate interests of the enterprise. The Council recommended the STS to take prompt measures and enforce the court decision in the company’s case. The investigator emphasized that according to the Constitution of Ukraine, a court decision should be mandatory for execution by all public authorities. In particular, the Council stressed that current actions of the STS violated the principle of the rule of law and were a criminal offense.
Result achieved: With the Council’s facilitation, the STS complied with the court decision and increased the registration limit by over UAH 1 mn, for which the company had the right to register tax invoices. The complainant thanked the Council for assistance: “Thank you for helping us. Special thanks to the investigator who directly dealt with our issue. We are sure that the situation would not have been resolved without the Business Ombudsman’s Office involvement. We wish you strength, creative inspiration and success in your activities being vital for the Ukrainian business”. The case was successfully closed.