Vyacheslav Cherkashin, senior analyst at the Institute of Socio-Economic Transformation, associated expert at CASE-Ukraine, in an article for Delo.ua explained in detail about the Polish Ryczałt taxation model, which has reappeared on the Ukrainian agenda as a “model” for the modernization of the simplified taxation system (STS).
This regime is not an alternative to a single tax — it is more complicated, more expensive, and creates significantly more administration. The authorities have returned to the idea of limiting the STS, as stipulated in the National Revenue Strategy 2030. The Ministry of Finance and some deputies traditionally present the simplified system as the main tax problem that needs to be “modernized”. But the facts say otherwise.
According to estimates by analytical centers, abuse of the simplified system costs the budget UAH 11.5–22 billion per year. For comparison, the real leaders of shadow economy generate many times more losses: – customs violations, smuggling, corruption at the border – UAH 105–120 billion; – counterfeiting and illegal excise duty – UAH 39–43 billion; – salaries “in envelopes” – UAH 200–265 billion.
That is, the SST is not the main problem of the budget. It is the smallest of the big ones.
Despite this, the National Revenue Strategy, adopted at the end of 2023, directly calls the SST the main obstacle to the growth of tax revenues. The Ministry of Finance has already planned “modernization” for 2027, and they want to submit draft laws to parliament in early 2026. As a model, they offer the Polish Ryczałt – “one-time income tax”.
But the problem is that:
1. This is not an analogue of the SST, but in fact a simplified general system. Poland has four regimes for small businesses, and Ryczałt is only one of them. It has: 8 rates – from 2% to 17%; the most common rates: 17%, 15%, 8.5%, 5.5%, 3%; the maximum rates are significantly higher than the Ukrainian 6%, not to mention the 1st and 2nd groups of the EP. That is, Ryczałt is not a simplified one. It is one of the forms of the general system with a high tax burden.
2. The Polish model has all the disadvantages of the general system, from which the Ukrainian SSO protects Main problems: – There is no cash method. It is not the income received that is taxed, but the “first event” – that is, even what the individual entrepreneur has just shipped. – Simplified accounting disappears. It is necessary to keep: • a register of income in a special form; • complete documents for the purchase of goods; • accounting for fixed assets and intangible assets; • accounting records with document numbers. In fact, it is a full-fledged accounting system, sometimes with separate accounting for each type of activity with its own rate. — New regular reporting. It is mandatory to send forms monthly or quarterly, while in Ukraine these documents are required only during an audit. — Monthly tax payment, not quarterly. The exception is only for new or very small businesses with income up to 200 thousand euros per year.
3. Part of the expenses may reduce the base, but this does not save Ryczałt allows you to take into account:
– 50% of health insurance contributions;
– social contributions;
– thermal modernization;
– Internet (up to 160 euros per year);
– donations;
– losses from previous years.
But all this is only a partial reduction in the load, which does not compensate for the complexity of administration.
4. The abolition of the single social security tax (22% of the minimum wage) for sole proprietors in the Polish model is a mythologized argument. Instead, Poland operates a different system of social contributions (ZUS), tied to income and often more expensive than the Ukrainian one.
The main conclusion:
The Polish model is not a modernization of the simplified tax system, but its abolition and replacement with a much stricter regime that:
– complicates accounting;
– increases administrative pressure;
– increases the tax burden;
– makes business more dependent on accountants and the tax office;
– does not solve large-scale evasion schemes.
The Ukrainian single tax is much more effective, cheaper and truly simplified. Replacing it: Рyczałt practically means eliminating microbusiness, not modernizing the system.