The International Monetary Fund has updated its Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, which includes a revised list of structural benchmarks for Ukraine.
This was stated in an IMF announcement.
The key change concerns the tax reform package, which was initially scheduled to be adopted by the end of March 2026. The IMF has divided it into several separate measures and postponed the implementation deadlines.
In particular, legislation on taxing income from digital platforms and the removal of exemptions for small postal shipments has been postponed until the end of July 2026.
The Verkhovna Rada has already adopted the first measure, while the bill concerning postal shipments was rejected by parliament. The most sensitive reform — the abolition of VAT exemptions for businesses using the simplified taxation system — has been postponed for another year. Its adoption is now expected by the end of April 2027, with implementation scheduled for January 1, 2028.
The updated program also includes several new structural benchmarks, including:
- a ban on introducing new special or unplanned expenditures for the Pension Fund of Ukraine (a permanent benchmark);
- raising the threshold for conducting unscheduled inspections during VAT refunds from UAH 100,000 to UAH 1 million by the end of August 2026;
- adoption of legislation to strengthen the independence of the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC) by the end of October 2026;
- approval of new key performance indicators (KPIs) for the State Tax Service aimed at reducing the costs businesses incur in complying with tax requirements by the end of December 2026;
- submission to the Verkhovna Rada of rules to prevent abuses of the simplified taxation system, including measures against artificial business splitting, by the end of December 2026.
At the same time, some of Ukraine’s commitments have been postponed to later dates.
The introduction of a risk-based system for reviewing income declarations has been delayed from June to the end of September 2026. The publication of an analysis of quasi-fiscal costs in the gas, heating, and electricity sectors has also been moved from the end of July to the end of October.
The memorandum also notes that Ukraine failed to meet its target for net international reserves (NIR) at the end of June. The reason was an increase in foreign exchange interventions by the National Bank of Ukraine due to rising fuel import costs and increased demand for foreign currency.
As a result, Ukraine requested an IMF waiver — permission to temporarily deviate from this program criterion.
The International Monetary Fund program remains one of the main sources of external financial support for Ukraine amid the ongoing full-scale war.
