Source: biz.nv.ua.
There is a duty in Ukraine, which hardly any guesses about. I am sure that it will be a surprise for most accountants and lawyers. However, almost every Ukrainian pays it added to the price of products.
There is a blank media duty (blank disk duty, personal playing duty) (Duty). It was established to support authors / performers, both Ukrainian and foreign ones.
When importing technical devices into Ukraine, importers are required to pay a fee in the form of a percentage of their value (up to 1.5%). This is stipulated by Article 42 of the Law “On Copyright and Related Rights”.
A list of thirty-three types of technical devices, on which this Duty is paid, was established by the CMU’s Resolution No.992 dated 26/07/2003. In particular, it includes:
- mobile phones,
- laptops,
- tablets,
- flash drives,
- TVs and so on.
Unlike taxes, which are paid to the state and fill the budget, the Duty is paid to a private person – the Collective Management Organization (CMO). In total, there are only 2 CMOs authorized by the state to receive funds from paying this duty, in our country.
As for the CMOs, they should distribute the funds between authors and performers.
There are similar duties in many EU countries as well as in the Russian Federation (known as “Nikita Mikhalkov’s tax”). However, in Ukraine, the Duty exists in special conditions, when its management is completely non-transparent.
Three factors of the duty’s non-transparency:
- First of all, the information about the duty amount collected per year is a commercial secret. This means that neither citizens nor businesses know how much money they have paid for everything as the Duty to two CMOs.
- There is no procedure to distribute funds between authors and performers by CMOs. This means that CMOs receive funds, but there are no principles for their distribution. Each of two CMOs decides itself how and to whom it will transfer the funds.
- The information on whether the CMOs have transferred funds to authors / performers is a commercial secret, which nobody except these CMOs knows.
In addition, the Duty is notable because of the fact that it causes litigations between CMOs and importing companies, including well-known international brands.
You can find the lawsuits of CMOs to ASBIS-Ukraine, Sony-Ukraine, Elko Ukraine, Philips Ukraine and others for the last year in the United Register of Judgments.
It is unlikely that the non-transparency and a large number of litigations will allow to characterize this Duty as the effective one.
That is why the Better Regulation Delivery Office experts propose to consider suspending this Duty until all transparent and clear mechanisms for its collection and distribution are developed and approved.
The relevant draft Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine along with all documents have already been developed by BRDO experts and will be sent to the state authorities in the near future, as well as published for extensive public discussion.
We do not know much whom and how much we pay due to legislative rules. The IFAK study showed that only 10% of Ukrainians knew how many taxes they pay.
The more public attention is drawn to duties and taxes, the procedure of their management and use, the more order and efficiency there will be.
