The Internet Association of Ukraine (InAU) has addressed a request to President Volodymyr Zelensky, urging him to protect the "legal rights of small businesses in the electronic communications sector."
The letter claims that there is a growing trend of deterioration in this sector.
"The State Tax Service, without any legal grounds and in the absence of relevant changes in both sectoral and tax legislation for over 2.5 years, has started to deny micro and small business enterprises—providers of internet access services—the right to use a simplified taxation system," the letter states.
InAU alleges that several large "telecom operators with foreign owners" have launched a "manipulative PR campaign" against Ukrainian small businesses in the electronic communications sector to redistribute the market in their favor.
"The campaign to discredit businesses in our sector, in an attempt to deny their legitimate right to use the simplified taxation system, is joined by high-ranking officials and politicians. An example is the article in 'Glavkom' by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy, Danilo Hetmantsev, titled 'The Gray Internet Market: Time to Bring It to Order'," the open letter to Zelensky notes.
Similar to Mykola Kucheruk, Director of the Elite-Line internet provider from Kramatorsk, InAU argues that Hetmantsev's publication contains "a number of false statements and conclusions" regarding businesses that, according to Hetmantsev, "disguise themselves as individual entrepreneurs."
The letter criticizes Hetmantsev’s claim that "the state loses over 3 billion UAH annually due to the existence of what is essentially an 'internal offshore' in the form of the simplified taxation system for providing internet access services," calling it unfounded.
InAU has called on the government to uphold the law and stated that "there should be no collective responsibility for the entire industry due to a few dishonest market participants." The association has urged President Zelensky to intervene and "assess the actions of the relevant politicians and officials who, consciously or unconsciously, are destroying this critically important sector of the domestic economy during a severe war."
It is noted that Danilo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Tax Policy, claimed that Ukraine faces significant tax shortfalls due to the "gray" internet business. He added that the state has tools to bring the business "to order."
Director of the Elite-Line internet provider, Mykola Kucheruk, disagreed with Hetmantsev's arguments, stating that Hetmantsev "without any arguments" claims that internet providers do not pay taxes, purchase gray equipment, provide inferior quality, and neglect subscriber data protection.
