The tax audit support services provided by the lawyers of WinnerLex Law Firm are a comprehensive legal service aimed at protecting businesses during tax authority inspections.
During audits, tax authorities, due to their fiscal function, aim to describe as many violations as possible in the audit report, even if none exist. Therefore, tax audits, both scheduled and unscheduled, always pose an increased risk to businesses.
The goal of supporting tax audits as a legal service is to mitigate the risks of the consequences of tax authority audits for the client.
For maximum effectiveness, tax audit support should ideally begin at the stage of preparation for the audit. For regular clients of WinnerLex Law Firm, who are at risk of a tax audit, monitoring the inclusion in the tax audit plan of the State Fiscal Service is conducted. Early awareness of an upcoming audit allows for an analysis of business risks and the correction of potential violations before the auditors arrive.
In some cases, it may not be possible to fully prepare for a tax audit for various reasons. For example, if the business does not have information about the audit, in the case of an unscheduled or desk audit.
In such a situation, tax audit support begins at the stage of granting auditors access to the audit. According to the current position of the Supreme Court, at the stage of allowing the audit, the taxpayer can raise the issue of the unjustifiability of its appointment and conduct. This allows for the exercise of the right to defend against unlawful tax control actions.
Therefore, at this stage of tax audit support, the main task of WinnerLex Law Firm’s attorneys is to analyze the legality of the grounds for the audit.
If relevant violations are identified, the business may deny auditors access. This prevents the tax audit from being conducted, the preparation of the audit report, and the issuance of a tax notice-decision.
At the same time, it should be noted that denying access to a tax audit without sufficient grounds may result in negative consequences for the business, as stipulated by the law. Therefore, we do not recommend making a decision to deny a tax audit without consulting a tax attorney. Only a tax attorney can professionally assess the grounds for denial and the potential risks involved.
If auditors have been allowed access to the tax audit, legal support becomes even more essential. The tax attorneys at WinnerLex will analyze the problematic aspects of taxation that attracted the tax authorities’ attention. They will help substantiate the business operations, relationships with contractors, and their documentation from a legal perspective. They will also prepare timely objections to the audit report findings and file an administrative complaint.
In providing support for tax audits, the attorneys at WinnerLex use their extensive experience in handling tax disputes in the client’s best interests. This allows them to identify tax risks and develop strategies for minimizing them early on during the audit process. All actions and documents are aligned with a predetermined legal position, designed to be most advantageous for the client in case the audit findings need to be challenged in court.
Tax audit support may include the following actions:
- Providing a legal assessment of the lawfulness of the audit order
- Supporting the denial of access
- Ensuring the inadmissibility of administrative property seizure
- Reducing risks of unlawful inventory checks
- Responding to inquiries during the tax audit
Providing consultations on disputed issues, taking into account case law - Justifying the legality of the taxpayer’s actions before tax inspectors
- Assisting in minimizing findings regarding the unreal/absence of goods in certain transactions
Practice experience: 19 years
Specialization: litigation support, tax, customs and antitrust practices, agricultural law, IT and M&A
Practice experience: 21 years Specialization: support of economic, civil, labor and administrative disputes, energy
Practice experience: 11 years Specialization: tax, customs and corporate disputes, support of inspections, contractual activities
Practice experience: 6 years
Specialisation: business and civil law, tax and customs practice, corporate law, registration and reorganisation of business
Practice experience: 11 years Specialization: support of economic, civil, labor and administrative disputes, inspections
On the official website of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, it is necessary to periodically check the information about scheduled audits conducted by the tax authorities. The plan-schedule for documentary scheduled audits for the following year is published on the State Tax Service website no later than December 25 of the previous year. If you find that your company / individual entrepreneur is listed in the Plan-schedule of documentary scheduled audits of taxpayers, we recommend that you contact the State Tax Service of Ukraine with inquiries to clarify the grounds for inclusion in the Plan-schedule for conducting documentary scheduled audits of taxpayers.
If a taxpayer expresses a desire to participate in the consideration of their objections to the audit report and/or additional documents, the tax authority is required to notify the taxpayer about the location and time of such consideration. This notification must be provided no later than the next working day after receiving the objections, but no later than four working days before the date of the review.
The receipt of copies of documents by employees of the tax authority from the business entity is documented with a description. A copy of the description, prepared by the officials of the State Tax Service, is handed to the taxpayer or their legal representative for signature.
The tax authorities are prohibited from conducting unscheduled documentary audits specified in subparagraphs 78.1.1, 78.1.4, 78.1.8 of paragraph 78.1 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, if the issues subject to such an audit were already addressed during previous audits of the taxpayer.
The conduct of a documentary on-site scheduled and unscheduled audit of a large taxpayer may be suspended by a decision of the tax authority, with subsequent resumption of the audit for the unused period. The audit can be suspended for a total period not exceeding 30 working days. If an expert examination is required, information needs to be obtained from foreign government authorities regarding the taxpayer’s activities, a court review of claims related to the audit subject is ongoing, or the taxpayer is restoring lost documents, the audit may be suspended for the time necessary to complete these procedures.
The duration of most types of tax audits depends on the category to which the taxpayer is assigned. For example, a documentary scheduled audit for a large taxpayer may last no longer than 30 working days, for a taxpayer classified as a small enterprise – no longer than 10 working days (Article 82.1 of the Tax Code), and for medium-sized businesses – no longer than 20 working days.
