The topic of bringing the agricultural sector out of the shadows became one of the most topical during the round table "Current agricultural tax and land issues", which took place in Uman with the participation of farmers, representatives of ministries, parliament, local authorities, Ukrainian and international organizations.

"Of the more than 33 million hectares of agricultural land that are cultivated in Ukraine today (excluding the occupied Crimea and the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions) more than 13.2 million hectares are cultivated illegally. And the worst thing is that the amount of land that is cultivated illegally is increasing every year and we must fight against that." - the UAC Chairman Andrii Dykun said.

Currently, the Verkhovna Rada is considering three bills - №3131, №3131-1 and №3131-2, which are designed to bring the agricultural sector out of the shadows. The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy recommended to the parliament to adopt the main bill №3131 “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and Other Laws of Ukraine on De-Shading of Agricultural Production”.

The Deputy Finance Minister Svitlana Vorobey declared that the Ministry has officially supported all three bills, as they are aimed to fight against usage of unaccounted land on which agricultural products are grown.

"At the same time, out of all three bills, the Ministry of Finance preferred the basic bill - №3131, because it mostly solves the issue of load per 1 hectare, regardless of the volume of the enterprise. Land should be used efficiently by all landlords and the state should receive a certain amount of taxes from it. This will stimulate people who let on lease their land illegally to make clear relations with leaseholders. Also, it will stimulate to legal work those farms, which sell products for cash and do not pay taxes." - Svitlana Vorobey said.At the same time, Olga Bogdanova, the Deputy Chairman of UAC, Tax Policy Expert, Practitioner Certified Auditor, Partner of Crowe Erfolg Ukraine and Crowe A&A Ukraine (a member of Crowe Global), mentioned that the bill № 3131 is revolutionary for the agricultural sector.

"Now 40-50% of agricultural production feedback is in the shadows. This bill provides for a minimum tax burden for everyone - from the user, an self-employed individual - to the tenant, a legal entity. Therefore, this bill will be the best that will change the rules of the game in the agricultural sector. Thanks to it, local budgets will be filled, because the personal income tax (PIT) is paid according to the location of the land area.” - Olga Bogdanova emphasized.

Particular attention was paid to the issue of family farms taxation. The Councilor to the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Olena Kyivets voiced the audience with the tax options for this form of management.

The head of the Cherkasy Regional State Administration Roman Bodnar noted the importance of the event initiated by UAC:

"These legislative initiatives, which you have been discussing for months, may change the efficiency of the agricultural sector and the fullness of local budgets. We have a large part of regional and local budgets. It is the fee for land and personal income tax from the use of land shares. If a consensus is found in the discussion today, and then in the Verkhovna Rada - these decisions will allow to rapidly develop the agricultural sector and, most importantly - to increase efficiency and create added value in the region." - Roman Bodnar mentioned.

The bill №133131 may be considered by the Verkhovna Rada in July 2020.