Which taxes can Ukraine afford without suffocating itself?

By Mykhailo Kukhar, IMF Group Ukraine

By Mykhailo Kukhar, IMF Group Ukraine

What do we think about Ukraine’s tax system? It’s awful! What do we think about its pension system? It’s horribly unfair! Have I guessed your answers correctly? No polls or surveys needed. There are too few respondents with a different opinion to take them into account — they are just beyond the margin of error.

Guess what? This is not only our opinion. You can ask citizens of any country on the European, North or South American continents the same two questions. The answers will be the same. That’s why such polls are not held at all.

Governments act as they please, trying to find a reasonable balance between a tax rate that cannot be too high and social payments (including pensions). Of course, every government would like to raise the latter as high as possible for the electorate, btut this would be achieved at the expense of business and people who are employed.

The issue we are referring to is crucial for the economic agenda of elections in all dev…