Main points
- Incorrect wording in the purpose of the payment may lead to the loss of the status of a single tax payer for an individual entrepreneur.
- The tax office inspected over 6,000 individual entrepreneurs in the first three quarters of 2025, and the agreed amounts to be paid are only 22% of those assessed.
What payments are dangerous for individual entrepreneurs in Ukraine / Collage of Channel 24, photo Shutterstock
Individual entrepreneurs should carefully monitor not only the receipt of funds, but also how the purpose of the payment is formulated. Incorrect wording can have serious consequences – up to and including the loss of the status of a single tax payer.
What purposes of payments in an individual entrepreneur cancel the single tax?
Regularly checking bank statements is not a formality, but a necessity, especially if an entrepreneur is cooperating with new clients or partners, writes YANKIV.
There are a number of risky wordings that may raise questions from the tax authorities. Among them:
- “for barter”, “for exchange”, “offset” – such forms of payments are not allowed for individual entrepreneurs on the simplified system;
- general “for goods/services” if the activity does not comply with the KVEDs;
- payment for goods or services that are not included in the list of permitted activities;
- mentions of cryptocurrencies (USDT, Bitcoin, etc.), because such calculations are not provided;
- the wording “salary”, “advance” or “payment” – an individual entrepreneur cannot receive such payments to a business account.
There are also outgoing payments, where mistakes cost no less: an incorrectly executed transfer to an individual, “financial assistance” as a way to avoid taxes, and compensation for utilities separately from rent are also potential problems.
– said expert Bohdan Yankiv.
Why is this a problem?
Even one mistake can lead to:
- additional tax assessment;
- fines;
- loss of single tax payer status.
What to do if there is already an error?
In case of an error, you need to act quickly. One option is to refund the funds to the customer , marking it as an erroneous payment, and then receive the payment again with the correct purpose.
Another way is to obtain a written explanation from the counterparty specifying the error. Based on this document, the bank can correct the information in the statement.
So, the market is becoming more controlled, and the tax authorities are more attentive to details. This means that even small mistakes can have big consequences.
Please note! For an individual entrepreneur, a bank statement is not just a document, but a potential risk. Control over the purpose of payments becomes a mandatory part of the financial security of the business.
How often does the tax office audit individual entrepreneurs?
The tax office conducted more than 6,000 inspections of individual entrepreneurs in the first three quarters of 2025. This is 12% more than in the same period last year, writes Opendatabot.
Although the number of inspections is 3.8 times less than in 2021, the amounts that businesses must “pay extra” have increased significantly this year, the platform notes.
Although the amounts to be paid are growing, this does not mean that entrepreneurs are actually obliged to pay them – currently only about 22% have been agreed, which is 1.32 billion hryvnias. For comparison, last year, during this time, almost half of the additional payments were agreed,
– reported in Opendatabot.
Of the 2.59 billion hryvnias in fines assessed, only 15%, or 396.8 million, have been agreed upon so far.
The agreed amount is the additional charge that the entrepreneur actually has to pay after all objections, appeals and decisions of the tax office or court. First, the tax office “charges”, but only after going through these procedures does the amount become final and binding,
– analysts explain.
By the way, statistics show that in 2025, 11% more entrepreneurs ceased operations than in 2024. This wave affects different regions: in Kyiv, about 120 restaurants closed during the year, in Lviv – about 50. Retail trade accounts for more than a third of all cessations of operations.
The expert explains that among the reasons for such mass closures are both a drop in demand and solvency, and a shortage of personnel.
Natalia Golovachko
Founder of Marketing Club Lviv
Due to the war and inflation, people are saving significantly, there are fewer customers in establishments. In addition, tariffs, rent, and taxes have increased.
What else do individual entrepreneurs in Ukraine need to know?
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Different groups of sole proprietorships have specific restrictions – regarding employees, annual income, type of clients, etc. They also differ in the single tax rate on the simplified system; and Group III is considered the most universal.
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For activities without registration as an individual entrepreneur, a fine of 340 hryvnia is provided, and for economic activities without registration – from 17 to 34 thousand hryvnia with confiscation. In case of repeated violation, the fine is from 34 to 85 thousand hryvnia with confiscation, and improper record-keeping can lead to a fine of 51 to 136 hryvnia.